Investing.com – Wall Street was set to open lower on Friday as investors worry about the rise of bond yields.
The S&P 500 futures fell 20 points or 0.71% to 2,802.50 as of 6:46 AM ET (11:46 GMT) while Dow futures decreased 236 points or 0.90% to 25,936.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were down 49 points or 0.71% to 6,849.25.
Bond yields have risen amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.796% while the 30-year Treasury bond surged to 3.042% for the first time since May.
Bond yields rise when prices fall.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was among the top performers in per-market trading, rising 5.41% after it reported a record profit in the fourth quarter. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) increased 0.61% after updating information on its user base, which grew 30% to 1.3 billion. Meanwhile telecommunications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) was up 2.04% while Sony Corp ADR (NYSE:SNE) surged 6.12% after its CEO Kaz Hirai stepped down.
Elsewhere bank stocks were down, with Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DBKGn) NA O.N. (NYSE:DB) falling 6.17% after it reported a $2.75 billion lose in the fourth quarter. Barclays (LON:BARC) PLC ADR (NYSE:BCS) dipped 1.76% while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) decreased 1.25% and semiconductor Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) was down 2.26%.
Investors are also looking ahead to the jobs report later in the day. The U.S. Labor Department’s January nonfarm payrolls report comes out at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT). Traders are expecting the data to show jobs growth of 184,000, after rising by 148,000 in December.
In earnings news, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Honda Motor Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:HMC) and Merck (NYSE:MRK) are expected to report before the bell.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 159 points or 1.21% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 70 points or 1.29% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 29 points or 0.39%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 33 points or 0.95% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 146 points or 1.41%.
In commodities, gold futures inched forward 0.05% to $1,348.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures were flat at $65.80 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.20% to 88.66.