A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Wednesday following a sizable sell-off on Wall Street as worries about a ballooning deficit deepened.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 44 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were both little changed.
In regular trading, the blue-chip Dow slid more than 800 points, while the S&P 500 finished the day 1.6% lower. Equities were pressured by a sharp spike in Treasury yields amid concerns that a new U.S. budget bill would put even more stress on the country’s already large deficit.
The rocky negotiations on Capitol Hill over tax and federal budget changes have become a fresh worry for investors after tariff headlines subsided. The massive budget bill in the House of Representatives hit a road block Tuesday when blue-state Republicans signaled they would not support the bill without a larger deduction for state and local taxes, often referred to as “SALT.”
Opposition to the bill threatens to derail the tax legislation, which Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., hope to see passed before Memorial Day weekend.
The bill could increase the U.S. government’s debt by trillions and raise the deficit at a time when fears of a flare-up in inflation due to Trump tariffs are already weighing on bond prices and boosting yields.
The 30-year Treasury bond yield jumped again Wednesday to hit 5.09%, touching the highest level going back to October 2023. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield traded at 4.59%.
“I think it really speaks to the impact from the rate of change of yields versus just that drift higher,” Kevin Gordon, Charles Schwab senior investment strategist, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “It’s driven by inflation concerns that are tied to the budget deficit that are then tied to the potential path of the dollar.”
Investors will monitor weekly jobless claims data, set to be released Thursday morning, for clues about the labor market.