Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to a slightly lower opening bell on Monday, as bond yields rose and investors waited for earnings results from top technology firms.
The S&P 500 futures was up over half a point or 0.03% to 2,672.25 as of 6:47 AM ET (10:47 GMT) while Dow futures was flat at 24,432.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose over four and a half points or 0.07% to 6,681.0.
Bond yields have risen to their highest levels in four years, as inflation has added to expectations of continued rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The yield on the benchmark United States 10-Year Treasury note reached its highest level since January 2014 on Monday, at 2.979. The United States 2-Year note rose to 2.470, a level not seen since September 2008.
A rise in yields could weigh on equities, as higher yields dampan investor risk appetite for riskier assets such as stocks.
Technology companies are scheduled to report their earnings this week with the first key results from Google’s Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) after the market close on Monday. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) are set to report later in the week.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) was among the biggest gainers in pre-market trading, rising 1.03% while Tiwtter increased 0.69% and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) gained 1.67%.
Elsewhere UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) dipped 3.23% despite its earnings coming in higher than expected, while Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) fell 1.01%.
In economic news, a flash reading of the composite purchasing managers’ index is out at 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT) while existing home sales is scheduled for 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX fell 16 points or 0.13% while in France the CAC 40 decreased seven points or 0.13% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down four points or 0.07%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 was up one point or 0.03% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched up eight points or 0.09%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.61% to $1,330.20 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.50% to $68.06 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.41% to 90.45.