The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled pared its worst losses of the session on Thursday, but were still trading decidedly lower, as carnage in the 122-year-old stock gauge persisted. The Dow DJIA, +0.19% was off almost 700 points, down 2.7%, at 24,962 Thursday afternoon, coming fresh off the index's 831-point tumble on Wednesday. Most recently, however, it was down 300 points, or 1.2%, at 25,291. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.29% was down 1.1% at 2,754 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.36% declined by 0.4% at 7,391. The equity benchmarks have been attempting to rebound from the prior session's downdraft all day but have thus far been unable to find footing higher. Recent declines have been underpinned by a rise in U.S. government bond yields which rose to multiyear highs earlier in the week, indicating higher borrowing costs for corporations and individuals. That has caused a reassessment of equity values.