- Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes traded lower
- 10-year Treasury yield rebounds back to near high for the year
Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes traded lower early Friday as the 10-year yield jumped, rekindling fears that rising rates will take the comeback momentum out of equities, especially tech names.
At 7:36 a.m. ET, Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 182 points, or 1.39%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 15.5 points, or 0.39%, and Dow e-minis were up 17 points, or 0.05%.
The10-year Treasury yield, which moves inversely to price, rose to about 1.6% on Friday, back towards recent one-year highs. The 10-year yield reached as high as 1.62% earlier in this month before retreating.
The Nasdaq has been particularly hit by the sell-off in recent weeks and entered correction territory on Monday as investors swapped richly valued technology stocks with those of energy, mining and industrials companies that are poised to benefit more from an economic recovery.
The yield-sensitive group of Facebook Inc Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc, Google-parent Alphabet Inc, Tesla Inc and Microsoft Corp was down between 1.7% and 4.4% in premarket trading.
Treasury yields climbed after Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law on Thursday afternoon.
The plan will send direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans. Direct deposits will start hitting Americans’ bank accounts as soon as this weekend, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
In addition to announcing his plan to make Covid vaccines available to all adults aged 18 and above, Biden said in his first primetime address to the nation on Thursday evening, that Americans should hopefully be able to gather in small groups to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Yields were also higher after the number of weekly new jobless claims came in lower than expected on Thursday, totaling 712,000 for the week ended March 6, below the 725,000 estimate.
The 10-year yield has risen rapidly recently, shooting up from 1% since the end of January, amid concerns about rising inflation. These concerns have been compounded by fears that the U.S. government’s fiscal relief package, alongside the reopening of the economy, could stimulate it too quickly and cause a surge in prices.
On Friday, February’s producer price index is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data for March is expected to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
There are no auctions due to be held Friday.
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket
Ulta Beauty(ULTA) – Ulta Beauty announced that CEO Mary Dillon will step down in June to be replaced by company President David Kimbell. Dillon will move to the role of executive chairman. Separately, the cosmetics retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its latest quarter, but did cut its fiscal 2021 comparable sales outlook. Ulta lost 8.2% in premarket trading.
Poshmark(POSH) – Poshmark reported better-than-expected sales for its latest quarter, but the online retailer of secondhand goods issued a current-quarter forecast that was short of analyst estimates. Its stock tumbled 12.3% in premarket action.
Novavax(NVAX) – Novavax shares soared 16.5% premarket after the drug maker said its Covid-19 vaccine was effective at high levels against both the original strain of the virus as well as the U.K. variant.
DocuSign(DOCU) – DocuSign beat estimates by 15 cents with an adjusted quarterly profit of 37 cents per share, and the electronic signature company’s revenue was also above analysts’ forecasts. It also issued a better-than-expected outlook, but shares fell 4% in premarket trading.
Sanofi(SNY),Translate Bio(TBIO) – The drug makers began a human trial for their second Covid-19 vaccine project, following a delay in their first vaccine last year. This vaccine is based on messenger RNA technology, and the two companies expect interim study results in the third quarter. Translate Bio shares rose 5.1% premarket.
Alibaba(BABA) – Alibaba is facing a possibly record fine from China antitrust regulators, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The paper said the fine could exceed the $975 million that chipmaker Qualcomm paid in 2015, as regulators push Alibaba to disassociate itself from founder Jack Ma and to align itself more closely with the Communist Party. The e-commerce giant’s shares fell 2.1% in premarket action.
Netflix(NFLX) – Netflix is testing a new feature to limit password sharing, with some users receiving a request to confirm that they live in the same household as the account holder. Research firm Magid has estimated that about one-third of Netflix users share their passwords. Netflix was down 1.2% premarket.
Verizon(VZ) – Verizon launched a $25 billion debt sale to help fund its $45 billion purchase of wireless spectrum that will be used to expand next-generation 5G mobile service. MarketWatch reports demand was extremely strong for the sale, more than four times oversubscribed at one point.
Aegion(AEGN) – Aegion is the subject of a bidding contest betweenNew Mountain Capital(NMFC) andApollo Global(APO). Apollo has made a bid for the pipeline services company between $26 and $30 per share, according to a Bloomberg report, topping the deal Aegion struck with New Mountain last month for $26 per share. Aegion jumped 11.5% premarket, while Apollo rose 2.4%.
Buckle(BKE) – The fashion accessories retailer reported quarterly earnings of $1.33 per share, 7 cents above estimates, with revenue matching Wall Street forecasts. Comparable store sales were up 18% compared to a year earlier, with online sales up 81.5%.
Coherent(COHR) – The bidding battle to buy the maker of lasers and laser technology continues with Coherent saying the latest bid by optoelectronic components makerII-VI(IIVI) is superior to the most recent bid fromLumentum(LITE). The bidders have gone back and forth several times, with II-VI’s latest offer consisting of $195 per share in cash and one Lumentum share for each Coherent share. Coherent rose 2.1% premarket, while II-VI fell 1.6%.
Vail Resorts(MTN) – The resort operator beat Wall Street forecasts on both the top and bottom lines in its latest earnings report, even though Vail was forced to operate at reduced capacity due to the pandemic. Vail did say visitation trends improved throughout the quarter, and shares surged 9.7% premarket.
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