Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on September 16, 2026 in New York.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Stock futures were flat Wednesday night as a spike in U.S. Treasury yields triggered a market selloff and traders expected the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
S&P500 futures It increased by 0.02%. Nasdaq 100 futures It increased by 0.08%.
During normal trading days, S&P500 It fell by 0.8%. of Nasdaq Composite The stock fell 1.1%, ending its winning streak after four days.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.64% following the three-day holiday, while the TOPIX fell 0.17%. australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 The stock fell 1.33%. Korean markets are closed due to holidays. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.29%, and mainland China’s CSI300 index fell 0.79%.
benchmark 10 year government bond yieldInterest rates linked to mortgage rates rose to 5.135%, the highest level since July 2007. 2 year memo It rose to 4.947%, the highest level since May 2024.
As yields soared, so did market expectations for further interest rate hikes by central bank policymakers. Federal funds futures trading suggests there is a more than 68% chance that the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will raise key interest rates again in October, according to the CME FedWatch tool. This compares to just a week ago when the probability was about 49%.
Higher yields tend to put pressure on consumers’ household budgets, as they face higher borrowing costs at a time when fuel costs are already on the rise.
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday. international brent crude oil futures It rose about 3.9% to settle at $103.08 per barrel. west texas intermediate crude oil It rose 1.8% to $92.16.
Measures from the S&P Global Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers Index suggest that U.S. companies continue to perform well. BMO Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday that even with strong financial results, “severe supply chain bottlenecks” and rising fuel and transportation costs could fuel inflation.
“Overall, the picture for U.S. business activity is much stronger than expected, suggesting there is plenty of room for both policy rates and Treasury yields to move higher in the near term,” said Beil Hartman, U.S. rates strategist at BMO. “Rather, this data confirms the risk that demand-driven inflation will accelerate again, even if supply-side inflation subsides.”
Heading into Thursday, traders will be looking to weekly jobless claims numbers for more information on the economic situation. On the earnings side, we also plan to examine Olive Garden’s parent company’s quarterly results. Darden Restaurants Morning and large retail stores costco wholesale in the afternoon.
