Futures firm as tech stocks rise on lower bond yields

[May 25, 2021]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in mega-cap technology-related stocks as inflation worries ebbed and U.S. bond yields eased for the fourth straight day.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended about 1% higher on Monday after Federal Reserve officials maintained that the U.S. central bank's ultra-easy monetary policy will remain in place, pushing the longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields lower.

Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc added between 0.4% and 1% in premarket trading as the yield on 10-year bond slipped to a fresh two-week low on Tuesday.

Higher yields pressure valuations for tech and other growth stocks, whose future cash flows are discounted at higher rates.

Later in the day, data is likely to show U.S. consumer confidence slipped in May from a 14-month high hit in the prior month.

With the S&P 500 within 1% of its May 7 all-time, all eyes will be on the U.S. personal consumption report on Thursday, the Fed's favorite inflation gauge following a bout of market volatility recently triggered by fears of a longer period of higher prices.

At 6:18 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 68 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11 points, or 0.26%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 63.75 points, or 0.47%.

Lordstown Motors Corp slumped 15.6% after the electric vehicle startup said that 2021 production of its Endurance truck would be half of prior expectations and it needs additional capital to execute its plans.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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