By Stock futures pointed to a higher open Thursday morning, with equities looking to steady following another session of declines.
Contracts on each of the Dow and S&P 500 were higher. Nasdaq futures outperformed, after the index shed 2% on Wednesday amid another day of selling for technology shares. U.S. crude oil prices gave back some gains after spiking 5% on Wednesday, though a massive container blocking passage in the Suez Canal continued to plug the significant trade artery for another day, weighing on oil supplies.
The benchmark 10-year yield fell back toward 1.6%, bringing it nearly 15 basis points lower from last week’s high. Still, yields remain sharply higher for the year-to-date, as concerns over rising inflation linger for many investors.
“We think long-term bond yields are just in a pit stop here in what’s going to be a multi-year move higher,” JPMorgan global market strategist Gabriela Santos told Yahoo Finance.
“Ultimately, we do continue to think that it will harm the more speculative or expensive parts of the market like tech and really benefit the more cyclical [sectors] and especially the parts of the market that can benefit from a steepening yield curve,” she added.
With just a week left of the first quarter of 2021, the stocks that had been the most badly beaten down last year have so far largely outperformed. Cyclical sectors like financials, industrials and energy gained as prospects of rising interest rates, increased spending on infrastructure and demand for travel picked up.
However, the past week’s choppiness in equity market trading – as well as lingering virus-related headline risks to cyclicals stocks like cruise lines – has underscored the non-linear nature of the recovery for both the economy and for last year’s laggards.
“It’s not just as easy as flipping the calendar to 2021,” Brian Belski, BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist, told Yahoo Finance. “We think this is going to be well into 2022 before we’re in elevators again … or getting on an airplane period more regularly. And that’s why you need exposure to the stay-at-home stocks, to the tech stocks …You have to be diversified, you have to be an active stock picker and you have to be fundamental, much more fundamental, less macro.”
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7:18 a.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures rise, holding onto overnight gains
Here’s where markets were trading heading into the opening bell on Thursday:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,888.5, up 7.75 points or 0.2%
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Dow futures (YM=F): 32,373.00, up 54 points or 0.17%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 12,832.75, up 38.75 points or 0.3%
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Crude (CL=F): -$0.94 (-1.54%) to $60.24 a barrel
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Gold (GC=F): -$2.50 (-0.14%) to $1,730.70 per ounce
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10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.4 bps to yield 1.61%
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6:06 p.m. ET Wednesday: Stock futures open slightly higher
Here’s where markets were trading as the overnight session kicked off on Wednesday:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,884.25, up 3.5 points or 0.09%
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Dow futures (YM=F): 32,351.00, up 32 points or 0.1%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 12,803.5, up 9.5 points or 0.07%
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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck
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