Wall Street slumps after erasing an earlier gain as yields crank up the pressure WSOC TV [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — U.S. stocks are slumping Monday as higher yields in the bond market caused by a strong U.S. economy crank up the pressure on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 was down 1.1% in afternoon trading, following up on its 1.6% loss from last week, which was its worst since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 233 points, or 0.6%, as of 2:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.6% lower.

The S&P 500 had been up as much as 0.9% earlier in the day, rising as oil prices eased with hopes that international efforts to calm escalating tensions in the Middle East may help. But Treasury yields also spurted higher following the latest report on the U.S. economy to blow past expectations.

The economy and financial markets are in an awkward phase where such strength raises traders’ hopes for growing profits at companies but also hurts expectations for easier interest ratescoming …