Stock futures lower after another day of losses amid a rise in government interest rates
Stock futures were slightly lower on Wednesday morning after the major averages added to weeks of losses amid a jump in bond yields.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lower by 1[ads1]15 points. S&P 500 futures were slightly down 0.37% and Nasdaq 100 futures were also 0.31% lower.
Shares added to their three-week slide in regular trading. The Dow fell about 173 points, or 0.5%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7 percent to snap its first seven-day losing streak since 2016.
The moves came amid a rise in bond yields that saw the 10-year US Treasury yield jump to its highest level since June. The yield on the 30-year Treasury closed at its highest level since 2014. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Investors are divided on how to approach the market heading into the first week after Labor Day in September, a notoriously brutal month for stocks. All eyes are on the 3,900 level on the S&P 500. Some see the index falling to even lower lows, while others are optimistic about a year-end rally.
“It’s the battleground,” NewEdge Wealth chief investment officer Cameron Dawson said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “There was resistance and support, and any time you have these spots where you have a lot of consolidation of resistance and support, we’re going to see a lot of fighting to see where we push either above or below that.”
“If we have 3,900, that’s a bullish signal,” she added. “That means the market is sniffing out some changes in liquidity, willing to put a higher multiple on things on a sustainable basis… If we don’t, the 3,600 is in play in a short period of time.”
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release its summary of current economic conditions, also known as the Beige Book. Elsewhere, Fed Presidents Loretta Mester of Cleveland and Tom Barkin of Richmond, as well as Fed Vice Chairman Lael Brainard, are scheduled to speak at various events.
