Stock index futures traded in the red on Tuesday, a day after the markets ended the first trading session of H2 in green, while traders await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech set to take place right at the opening bell.
S&P 500 futures (SPX) -0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND) -0.5% and Dow futures (INDU) -0.3%.
The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) was unchanged at 4.46%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) rose 1 basis point to 4.77%. See how other yields trade across the entire yield curve here.
Technology stocks, which played a part in helping the markets end higher yesterday, retreated a little today.
Tesla (TSLA) was down 1.4%, while Nvidia (NVDA) was down 1.2% in premarket trade.
“Risk appetite in the U.S. was dampened by some weak data prints,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said.
“The bright spot came on the inflation side, with the prices paid component down to a six-month low. That backdrop meant that U.S. equities were mixed, with tech once again saving the day,” Reid added.
Powell will take the stage today at 9:30 am ET in Sintra, Portugal along with other central bankers in the Forum on Central Banking. Investors will tune in to get any more hints about rate cuts.
Markets are also awaiting the May JOLTS job openings report, which is expected to come during market hours. Economists forecast the number of job openings to come in at 7.9M, down from 8.1M in April.
“We’ll pay closer attention to the quits rate in the JOLTS report, which is a good leading indicator of year-over-year growth in the wages and salaries component of the Employment Cost Index, the Fed’s preferred wage gauge,” Pantheon Macroeconomics said.
The total vehicle sales report is also due today, and is anticipated to fall to 15.8M.