The Nasdaq futures hit a record high on Wednesday as a fall in Treasury yields supported tech-heavy growth stocks, while investors focused on the Federal Reserve’s minutes from the June meeting to gauge the trajectory of policy support going forward.
At 8:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 23 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 7.5 points, or 0.17% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 79.25 points, or 0.54%.
Yield on the U.S. 10-year notes slipped for the seventh straight session, while mega-cap technology names Facebook Inc Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc gained between 0.6% and 0.7% in premarket trading.
Fast-growing technology stocks are sensitive to yields as their value rests heavily on future earnings, which are discounted more deeply when bond returns go up.
The Fed minutes, due at 2 p.m. ET, is expected to offer clues on how the U.S. central bank may begin to pare its large bond-buying program amid signs of quickening economic recovery.
Wall Street has been concerned over runaway inflation, with investors moving between economy-linked value stocks and growth names in the past few sessions.
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
Devon Energy,Occidental Petroleum— Energy stocks were set to gain as oil prices rose. Devon Energy advanced 3% in premarket trading, while Occidental Petroleum climbed 1.7%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained $1.23, or 1.7%, to trade at $74.60 per barrel, having declined by more than 2% in the previous session amid uncertainty about OPEC+ supply policy.
Didi— The slide in Chinese ride-hailing company continued with shares falling another 4% in premarket trading. Didi shares sunk nearly 20% after Chinese regulators announced a cybersecurity review of the company, less than a week after Didi's public debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sunnova Energy— Shares of the solar company climbed more than 3% afterRaymond James upgraded the stock to strong buy from outperform, saying the stock's recent underperformance was caused by misguided concerns. The stock is down about 13% this year.
Whirlpool— The home appliance stock edged up about 1% afterJPMorgan named the company a top pick,saying that the rest of Wall Street was too negative about the company. JPMorgan's price target of $278 represents a 28% upside for Whirlpool stock.
JPMorgan,Goldman Sachs— Bank stocks were set to extend their sell-off as long-term bond yields fell further. The 10-year Treasury yield dipped another 3 basis points below 1.35%, its lowest level since February. The 30-year Treasury yield fell a similar magnitude to 1.97% on Wednesday.