Stock futures edged down, with technology stocks on track to lead losses, asCovid-19 shutdowns in China added to the uncertainty investors face in a period of rising interest rates.
Futures for the tech-focused Nasdaq-100 shed 0.7% Monday, after the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.9% last week, when Federal Reserve officials signaled their intent to raise borrowing costs and shrink the central bank’s balance sheet to quell inflation.
Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% Monday and contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.2%.
U.S. government bonds extended their selloff. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to 2.757%, its highest level since early 2019, up from 2.713% Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction to bond prices, have climbed for four of the past five weeks.
Twitter shares fell 1.9% in premarket trading after the company’s chief executive said Elon Musk had decided not to join the board. Tesla, where Mr. Musk is chief executive, fell 3.6%.
AT&T, which on Friday completed the planned separation of its film-and-TV empire into a publicly traded company, rose 1.8% premarket.
Stock markets mostly dropped overseas. The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2%, led by losses for technology and auto firms.
France’s CAC 40 was an outlier, rising 0.9% after President Emmanuel Macron garnered 28.2% of the estimated vote in the first round of the presidential election, ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s 22.9%. The two will face off in an April 24 rematch of the 2017 election.
Ms. Le Pen has dialed down her criticism of the eurozone but her advance in the polls still sent jitters through European markets in recent weeks. The euro rose 0.2% Monday to $1.0926. The yield on 10-year French government bonds rose to 1.280% from 1.257% Friday.
Shares of Société Générale rose 6.5% after the French lender said it was selling its entire stake in Rosbank and its Russian insurance units to Interros, a conglomerate controlled by metals billionaire Vladimir Potanin.
Stocks in China tumbled as the economic toll of Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and supply-chain disruptions in the country continued to mount. The CSI 300 Index, which tracks the largest companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell 3.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 3%.
“Resurgence of the pandemic is the major reason," said Bruce Pang, head of macro strategy research for China Renaissance Securities. He said investors have been hoping for measures from Beijing to help counter the effects of the slowdown.
Chinese auto sales data on Monday showed that passenger-car sales fell 10.5% in March, after production was hampered by factory closures. Shanghai, the center of the Covid-19 outbreak, reported more than 25,000 asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.
Hong Kong-listed shares of NIO slid 11%. The electric-vehicle maker said it had to suspend production after some of its suppliers’ operations were disrupted. Shares of Zhejiang Geely Holding, a major Chinese car maker that owns Sweden’s Volvo Cars, fell 7.2%, while Shenzhen-listed electric-vehicle leader BYD lost 4.5%.
Political uncertainty in Europe and economic risks stemming from China’s shutdowns were adding to investor nerves after a bumpy start to 2022 for stocks. Bond yields have surged on the prospect of tighter monetary policy set by the Fed. The war in Ukraine, which is entering a new phase in the east of the country, has boosted commodity prices, adding to inflationary pressures.
Investors will parse results from some of the biggest financial institutions when first-quarter earnings season kicks off this week. JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock and Delta Air Lines are due to report Wednesday, followed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Thursday.
In commodities, Brent-crude oil futures fell 2.4% to $100.35 a barrel a barrel, extending a decline prompted by lockdowns in Shanghai and plans to release strategic reserves in the U.S. and elsewhere.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text
