By Ambar Warrick and Devik Jain
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday as rising Treasury yields weighed on major technology stocks, while bank shares extended gains as investors priced in an early policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.
Bank stocks rose in premarket trade, tracking gains in yields after Jerome Powell’s reappointment as Fed Chair raised market expectations for an interest rate hike by as soon as June 2022. [US/]
Wall Street’s biggest lenders rose between 0.2% and 0.8%, with Citigroup Inc leading gains.
Rising yields continued to weigh on technology stocks, with majors including Meta Platforms, Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc down between 0.3% and 0.5%. Large tech shares are sensitive to yields as investors discount future earnings against returns on debt.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 had slipped from record highs on Monday, as Powell’s nomination prompted a volatile session.
Concerns over rising inflation also remained at the forefront, with investors fearing the potential economic impact of higher prices lasting longer than expected.
Focus is now on upcoming IHS business activity data, due at 9:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT).
At 6:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 40 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.21% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 77 points, or 0.47%.
Among other premarket movers, Zoom Video Communications Inc fell 8.8% after its third-quarter revenue growth rate slowed to 35% as demand for its video-conferencing tools eased from pandemic-fueled heights last year.
XPeng Inc rose 4.2% on the electric vehicle maker’s upbeat third-quarter results and outlook. Most other EV makers, including Tesla Inc and Lucid Group, fell.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
