Global Markets: Wall Street opens lower; U.S. Treasury yields higher

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday after a handful of companies reported lackluster earnings reports, while 10-year U.S. Treasury note yields hit a 7-month peak.

AT&T fell 4.1 percent, dragging the S&P 500 index after the U.S. No. 2 wireless carrier's quarterly results missed estimates. Chipotle Mexican Grill plummeted 14.8 percent after the burrito chain also posted disappointing sales and earnings.

Earnings still have gotten off to a strong start, with 72.1 percent of 165 S&P companies beating profit expectations as of Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 72.9 points, or 0.31 percent, to 23,368.86, the S&P 500 lost 12.4 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,556.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 26.63 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,571.80.

U.S. long-dated Treasury yields rose to multi-month highs, boosted by a strong U.S. durable goods report, optimism about tax reform and the upcoming announcement of President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Federal Reserve.

Benchmark 10-year note yields hit a 7-month high, last falling 12/32 in price to yield 2.4481 percent, from 2.406 percent late on Tuesday.

The 30-year bond yield rose to a five-month peak, last losing 23/32 in price to yield 2.9599 percent, from 2.923 percent late on Tuesday.

"If you look across what has happened the last seven to 10 days, there has been additional traction on tax reform, which has clearly put some upward pressure on rates," said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Helena, Montana.

The dollar turned flat against a basket of currencies following data that showed domestic new home sales unexpectedly reached a near decade high in September.

The dollar index fell 0.13 percent, with the euro up 0.45 percent to $1.1812.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.20 percent versus the greenback at 113.68 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.3248, up 0.87 percent on the day.

Sterling got a boost after data showed Britain's economy picked up speed in the third quarter, bolstering the case for the Bank of England to raise UK interest rates next week for the first time in more than a decade.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.29 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.14 percent higher, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.45 percent. The pan-European STOXX 600 hit its lowest level in nearly four weeks, down 0.5 pct.

MSCI's benchmark emerging stocks index rose 0.2 percent after two days of losses, with Indonesian and Indian bourses hitting all-time highs.

Euro zone government bond yields rose on Wednesday a day ahead of a European Central Bank meeting at which it is expected to signal a reduction in its bond-buying scheme, gradually withdrawing post-crisis stimulus.

Oil steadied near a four-week high after top exporter Saudi Arabia said it was determined to end a supply glut that has weighed on the market for three years.

U.S. crude fell 0.46 percent to $52.23 per barrel and Brent was last at $58.49, up 0.27 percent on the day.

Spot gold dropped 0.1 percent to $1,275.26 an ounce.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Richard Leong in New York, Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru, Ritvik Carvalho and Abhinav Ramnarayan in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski)