Wall Street stocks end mostly flat in choppy trade as Treasury yields ease

Wall Street stocks end mostly flat in choppy trade as Treasury yields ease

By Chibuike Oguh

Thu May 22, 2025 4:36 PM

The indexes were all having a very good day, all achieving handsome 3-digit gains until the final half hour when everything dropped to the floor again with the Dow and S&P closing flat, the Nasdaq with a modest gain. The tax bill passed the House by a 1-vote margin but that was evidently already priced in since the concerns today turned to tariffs and interest rates, even concerns over the bond market easing with Treasury yields dropping of recent highs. 

Uncertainty continues to rule the day and the market hates uncertainty though I’m not at all sure how today’s expert can characterize the tariffs as “totally apolitical.” Solar stocks got bruised since the new tax bill ends green subsidies. But what caused the market to drop like a rock at 3:30 p.m.? What happened at 3:30 since the tax bill passed around 12:30?  Like so much on Wall Street, mystery abounds. But mystery’s a good thing. If this was easy, we’d all be millionaires. Volume was 16.09 billion, still below the 17.56 billion average.  

DJ: 41,860.44  -816.80       NAS: 18,872.64  -270.07      S&P: 5,844.61  -95.85        5/21

DJ: 41,859.09  -1.35           NAS: 18,925.74  +53.09       S&P: 5,842.01  -2.60          5/22

Thu 5-22-25 4:36 pm Wall Street stocks end mostly flat in choppy trade as Treasury yields ease | Reuters