02:03 PM EDT, 10/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell intraday Wednesday amid continued gains in government bond yields as concern mounted that inflation could heat up after the fiscally expansionary presidential elections.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 5,787.2, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.8% to 42,473.4 and the Nasdaq Composite 1.8% lower at 18,247.8. All sectors were in the red intraday except utilities and real estate.

Tesla (TSLA), IBM (IBM), United Parcel Service (UPS), and Colgate Palmolive (CL) are among the mega-caps reporting quarterly results this week.

The US presidential election remains too close to call less than two weeks before polls, and inflation is the chief concern from the policy agendas of Republicans and Democrats.

While the US presidential election remains a "coin flip," the updated scenarios from Oxford Economics suggest that "upside risks to its baseline forecast of growth and inflation during the next presidential term are larger than originally estimated."

Most US Treasury yields rose intraday, with the 10-year yield up 4.4 basis points to 4.25%, its highest since late July. The two-year yield advanced 4.3 basis points to 4.08%, its strongest since mid-August. The probability of the Federal Reserve leaving its interest rate unchanged at the Nov. 7 policy meeting rose to 11% from 7.5% a day ago, according to the FedWatch Tool. It compares with a zero likelihood of a Fed pause a month ago. The dominant probability, 89%, is for a 25 basis point cut.

Doubts that the Fed will turn less dovish than investors had expected lifted Treasury yields, and investors awaited another set of earnings to assess the state of the US economy, a note from D.A. Davidson said.

Gold fell 1% to $2,733.11 an ounce after touching a new record high of $2,772.6 earlier in the session. Silver slumped 3.5% to $33.82. Both precious metals touched fresh intraday highs in the first two days of this week.

In economic news, the pace of US existing-home sales fell 1% to a 3.84 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in September from 3.88 million in August, data from the National Association of Realtors released Wednesday showed. The average forecast was 3.88 million in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Total sales dropped 3.5% from a year earlier.

In company news, Enphase Energy ( ENPH ) shares sank more than 15% intraday, the worst performer on the S&P 500, following a year-over-year slump in its Q3 non-GAAP earnings and revenue.

CoStar Group ( CSGP ) reported a decline in Q3 non-GAAP earnings, and the increase in its sales fell short of expectations. The company also cut its full-year revenue guidance range, missing forecasts. Shares slumped over 6% intraday, the steepest decliner on the Nasdaq.

McDonald's (MCD) shares dropped 5.2% intraday, the biggest laggard on the Dow, after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday an E. coli outbreak in 10 states is related to the company's Quarter Pounder burgers.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.6% to $70.59 a barrel.

US commercial crude oil stocks, excluding inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rebounded by 5.5 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 18, following a 2.2-million-barrel decline in the previous week and a 1-million-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.