The S&P 500 futures were down slightly on Wednesday as traders watched bond yields and economic advances in Washington.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.6%.
The 10-year government bond yield was slightly higher than key inflation data at 8:30 a.m.CET The consumer price index is likely to show a moderate rise in inflation of 0.4% or 0.1% excluding food and energy in February, according to the economists polled by Dow Jones.
Investors will also watch the 10-year Treasury auction Wednesday at 38 p.m. ET for $ 38 billion in debt for clues as to the next direction for interest rates.
House Democrats are well on their way to passing the $ 1.9 trillion bill on Wednesday morning. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill this weekend, and checks for up to $ 1,400 are due to be issued this month. The expected stimulus and rate hikes have recently split the market, especially favoring stocks that are used for a recovering economy over the tech and growth stocks that led during the pandemic.
However, tech stocks snapped back on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite was up 3.7% and had its best day since November, when investors returned to popular growth names. Tesla rose 19.6% for its biggest one-day pop since February 2020. Apple and Facebook each gained more than 4%, while Amazon gained 3.8%. Before the snapback, the tech-heavy benchmark had fallen into correction territory on Monday, or down more than 10% from its recent high.
Tesla was down 1% in premarket trading on Wednesday. Apple was also a little lower.
“Corrections … create natural turning points for traders,” said Chris Larkin, chief executive officer for trading and investing products at E-Trade Financial. “Let’s not forget that less than a year ago, traders interpreted one of the biggest negative macro events in market history as a buying opportunity. So with the positive signals surrounding us today, there is little reason to change our minds.”
The recovery in technology coincided with a decline in bond yields. The 10-year government bond yield fell more than 5 basis points to 1.54% after trading at 1.62% on Monday.
The 10-year mark was 1.56% early Wednesday.
Investors will monitor Wednesday’s inflation data to see if price pressures are high. Higher inflation expectations have pushed bond yields higher, putting pressure on risk-weighted assets, particularly high-growth technology stocks.
