Stock futures were flat Wednesday following the major averages added to weeks of losses amid a jump in bond yields in the previous session.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded just 7 points higher. S&P 500 futures edged slightly higher by 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.2%.
Stocks added to their three-week slide Tuesday. The Dow fell regarding 173 points, or 0.5%, and the S&P 500 slid 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7% to notch its first seven-day losing streak since 2016.
The moves came amid a surge in bond yields that saw the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield jump to its highest level since June. The rate on the 30-year Treasury closed at its highest level since 2014. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Rates dipped slightly Wednesday, with the 10-year trading at 3.321%. The 2-year and 30-year yields traded at 3.47% and 3.472%, respectively.
Investors are split on how to approach the market entering the first post-Labor Day week in September, a notoriously cruel month for stocks. All eyes are on the 3,900 level on the S&P 500. Some see the index falling to even lower lows, while others are optimistic regarding a year-end rally.
“It is the battleground,” NewEdge Wealth’s chief investment officer Cameron Dawson, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “It was resistance and support, and anytime you have these places where you have a lot of consolidation of resistance and support, we’re going to see a lot of fighting to see where we push either above or below it.”
“If we hold 3,900, that is a bullish signal,” she added. “That means the market is sniffing out some change in liquidity, willing to put a higher multiple on things on a sustainable basis… If we don’t, then that 3,600 is in play in short order.”
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will give its summary on current economic conditions, also known as the Beige Book. Elsewhere, Fed presidents Loretta Mester of Cleveland and Tom Barkin of Richmond, as well as Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard are scheduled to speak at various events.