Bond Yields and Crude Prices Push Wall Street Futures Lower

Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower Wednesday morning as the recent tech rally paused amid rising bond yields and global crude oil prices. The S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq declined 0.6%, and the Dow Jones was off 0.4% pre-bell, following record highs closed on Tuesday.

In pre-market moves, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded up 0.6% to $89.96 a barrel, while 10-year US Treasury yields rose to 5.32%. The VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH) slipped 1.2% in the hours before the opening bell. Overnight, Asian exchanges were mostly lower, and European bourses traded south midday.

Investors await the 2 pm ET release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's Sept. 16-17 policy session, during which central bankers voted 12-0 to boost interest rates. Comments in the minutes will be parsed for clues to the Fed's outlook. The economic calendar also includes the weekly MBA mortgage applications bulletin at 7 am ET, the weekly EIA petroleum status report at 10:30 am, and the consumer credit release for August at 3 pm. In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $83,887, and spot gold commanded $4,110 an ounce.