The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Thursday, with the Dow futures showing a notable move to the downside.
A steep drop by shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is likely to weigh on the Dow, as the cloud-based software company is plunging by 16.5 percent in pre-market trading.
Salesforce is under pressure after reporting weaker than expected fiscal first quarter revenues and providing disappointing fiscal second quarter guidance.
Concerns about the outlook for interest rates may also continue to weigh on the markets, although a pullback by treasury yields may help keep selling pressure somewhat subdued.
The futures regained some ground following the release of separate reports showing an uptick by weekly jobless claims and slower than previously GDP growth in the first quarter.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 219,000 in the week ended May 25th, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 216,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 218,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product climbed by 1.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the previously reported 1.6 percent jump.
The downwardly revised increase, which was in line with economists, compares to the 3.4 percent surge in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Following the mixed performance seen during Tuesday’s session, the major U.S. stock indexes all moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday. The Dow showed a notable decline, falling to its lowest closing level in almost a month.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow slumped 411.32 points or 1.1 percent to 38,441.54, the S&P 500 slid 39.09 points or 0.7 percent to 5,266.95 and the Nasdaq fell 99.30 points or 0.6 percent to 16,920.58.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid a continued increase by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note climbing to its highest levels in nearly a month.
The ten-year yield jumped above 4.5 percent on Tuesday, as auctions of two-year and five-year notes attracted well below average demand.
The continued advance by treasury yields has added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of key inflation data later in the week.
On Friday, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of April, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.
The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed’s next monetary policy meeting on June 11-12.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he needs to see “many more months of positive inflation data” before he would consider cutting interest rates.
Kashkari, who does not have a vote on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, also said he could not rule out raising interest rates if inflation fails to slow.
Traders may also have been cashing on recent strength in the tech sector, which drove the Nasdaq to a new record closing high on Tuesday amid a surge by shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
A pullback by the price of crude oil led to considerable weakness among energy stocks, dragging both the NYSE ARCA Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.2 percent.
Airline stocks also saw substantial weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plunging by 2.0 percent to a nearly six-month closing low.
America Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) led the sector lower, plummeting by 13.5 percent after the airline lowered its second quarter earnings guidance.
Gold stocks also saw significant weakness amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, moving notably lower along steel, semiconductor and telecom stocks.