The main U.S. stock indexes slipped on Tuesday, as elevated bond yields and higher oil prices kept investors at bay at the start of a historically weak month for equities.

A sharp increase in rate-hike bets has soured sentiment in recent sessions, while renewed clashes in the Middle East have heightened worries that borrowing costs may need to rise to contain price pressures.

The selloff in U.S. Treasuries also pushed yields to their highest in months, dampening risk appetite further. Higher yields on risk-free Treasuries typically reduce the appeal of equities.

“There is a bit of a vacuum. The macro is back in control and we’re going to have a couple of months until the next corporate updates. So we may potentially be entering a period of choppiness or consolidation,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Investors are also contending with seasonal weakness. Since 1926, the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 0.7% on average in September, making it the weakest month for stocks and the only one with a negative average return, according to Fisher Investments, which cited data from Finaeon.

Still, historical trends may not be a reason to step away from stocks, said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial.

“The fundamental backdrop for stocks and the economy is sound. We believe investors are better served staying invested through the seasonal chop than trying to time around it,” he added.

At 10:07 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 220.12 points, or 0.41%, to 52,965.78, the S&P 500 lost 42.20 points, or 0.55%, to 7,643.68 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 245.70 points, or 0.93%, to 26,125.19.

Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, rose 0.72 points to 15.64.

Six of the 11 main S&P 500 sectors were in negative territory. Consumer discretionary led losses with a 1.74% fall, while information technology slid 1.2%.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index fell 2.7% to a near one-month low.

Broadcom was down 1.8%. The chipmaker is expected to announce results on Wednesday.

Nvidia, Intel and AMD were down between 1.3% and 2.6%.

Jobs Data Takes Center Stage

U.S. job openings rose to 7.27 million in July, less than the 7.3 million expected according to economists polled by Reuters. The more crucial nonfarm payrolls data is due on Friday.

While the labor-market data will be closely watched, investors believe next week’s inflation readings are likely to carry more weight for policymakers after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said taming inflation is the central bank’s chief focus.

“The employment data is not going to be the primary determinant for what happens in September. That’s going to be the next CPI report next Friday,” said Kourkafas.

Data showed activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector accelerated in August, compared with the previous month.

Limiting the declines on the S&P 500, energy stocks rose 1.3%, hovering near record highs following a 1.71% gain in Brent crude. Exxon Mobil and Chevron were up 1.93% and 1.78%, respectively.

“Of all of the areas of how to play defense, we think energy is the most effective,” said Ryan Isherwood, founder and CEO of Significance Capital.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.82-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.27-to-1 ratio.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)