By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were slightly higher in early APAC deals on Wednesday, following a selloff among major benchmark indices during the regular U.S. session as rising government bond yields dampened risk sentiment, while market participants brace for a slew of fourth quarter earnings results throughout the week.
During Tuesday’s trade, the Dow fell 543.34 points or 1.51% to 35368.48, S&P 500 lost 85.74 points or 1.84% to 4577.1 and the NASDAQ Composite fell 386.86 points or 2.6% to touch 3-week lows of 14506.9.
Dow Jones Futures were up 0.07%, S&P 500 Futures added 0.08% and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.07%.
Among stocks, major financial companies were hit after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reported weaker than expected fourth-quarter earnings as operating expenses surged 23% on increased pay for employees. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) lost 4.19%, Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG) fell 1.21%, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) lost 3.44%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) dipped 2.44% and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) lost 2.36%.
Technology stocks also continued to decline, as Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) lost 2.47%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 1.99%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) retreated 4.14%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost 1.89%, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dipped 2.5%, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) lost 3.86% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) fell 3.62%. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) dipped 2.43% after announcing the software giant will buy video game company Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) for $US68.7 billion. Shares of Activision Blizzard surged 25.88%.
EV manufacturers also lost ground, with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) down 1.82%, while Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) shed 8.49% and 9.13% respectively.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year yields were at fresh 2-year highs of 1.875%, as investors priced in an aggressive tightening of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
On the data front, the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index came in well below analyst expectations, posting the first contraction in activity since the Q2 2020 amid the continued spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Market participants will be closely monitoring a slew of earnings reports this week, with quarterly reports due from 35 companies including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), United Health Products Inc (OTC:UEEC), and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL).