Provided by Dow Jones
By Joe Wallace U.S. stock futures edged lower Tuesday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell s testimony in Congress on the health of the economy. Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked down 0.1%. The benchmark stocks gauge on Monday fell for a fifth consecutive day, its longest losing streak since last February. Contracts for the Nasdaq-100 retreated 0.6%, suggesting technology stocks will continue to lead the market lower. A sharp rise in yields on U.S. government bonds in recent days has sapped investors appetite for riskier assets, including stocks. Shares in technology companies, which have powered the broader market higher for much of the past year, are seen as particularly vulnerable. That is because many tech companies valuations are tied to their future earnings potential. Those profits are less valuable in today s terms when investors apply a higher discount rate.
Market-leading growth stocks, which thrived amid pandemic-related lockdowns, weighed on stocks for much of the day as investors favored shares that stand to gain most as ongoing vaccine deployment allows economic restrictions to be lifted.
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