Investing.com - U.S. stock market futures pointed to further losses at the open on Tuesday, as ongoing jitters over the health of the global economy dampened appetite for riskier assets.
The blue-chip Dow futures fell 74 points, or 0.46% by 12:00GMT, or 7:00AM ET, the S&P 500 futures slumped 8 points, or 0.42%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures shed 19 points, or 0.47%. Wall Street ended deep in the red on Monday, with the hard-hit Nasdaq Composite falling 1.8%.
Oil prices battled back to trade above the $30-a-barrel level in New York on Tuesday, even after the International Energy Agency said the global crude surplus will be bigger than previously estimated in the first half of 2016.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries reversed gains, with the 10-year yield climbing to 1.764% after touching a one-year low of 1.682% earlier, while German 10-year bunds also declined.
However, Japanese government bonds continued to rise, with the yield on the 10-year bond dropping below zero for the first time in history, amid mounting fears over the health of the global economy and the financial sector.
In Europe, stocks were mostly lower, with most bank shares struggling as fears of a global economic slowdown persisted.
Elsewhere, Japanese and Australian markets finished sharply lower on Tuesday, after another selloff in U.S. and European stocks overnight, as many Asian markets remained shut for the Lunar New Year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 5.4% as the U.S. dollar collapsed below the 115-level against the yen to its lowest since November 2014 as anxiety over slowing growth spurred demand for the Japanese currency.
USD/JPY hit lows of 114.23, a level not seen in 15 months, before pulling back to trade at 115.02, off 0.71% for the day.
On the data front, the U.S. job openings, or JOLTS, report for December is due at 10:00AM ET, while the Commerce Department’s report on wholesale inventories in December is due at the same time.
Investors are already looking ahead to comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday, when she testifies to Congress about the economy and monetary policy.