U.S. Stocks May Regain Ground Amid Pullback By Crude Oil, Treasury Yields

The major U.S. Index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to regain ground after trending lower over the past few sessions.

The futures recently advanced amid a downturn by the price of crude oil, which had moved notably higher over the past three sessions.

U.S. crude oil futures have slipped into negative territory after surging as much as 1.3 percent to their highest levels in almost three weeks.

Stocks may also benefit from a notable pullback by treasury yields, with yields falling sharply after the Treasury Department announced upscaled buyback operations for longer-term debt.

The Treasury said it is increasing the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities by at least double, effective September 9th.

Buying interest may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.

Stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside on the day, reflecting weakness among tech stocks.

The major averages all ended the day in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 355.20 points or 1.3 percent to 26,289.71, the S&P 500 slid 53.30 points or 0.7 percent to 7,691.76 and the Dow fell 116.38 points or 0.2 percent to 53,343.40.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid worries about a recent increase in bond yields, with the 30-year bond yield reaching its highest levels in nearly two decades before giving back ground.

Treasury yields have moved to the upside amid lingering concerns about the outlook for inflation due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Crude oil prices extended the surge seen over the two previous sessions after President Donald Trump said there are currently no U.S.-Iran talks taking place or scheduled.

Trump also claimed in a post on Truth Social that the Strait of Hormuz is “open and operating” and “all water mines have been removed or detonated,” although reports suggest traffic through the crucial waterway remains limited.

Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com noted the increase in treasury yields comes “despite softer recent economic data reducing expectations for an imminent Fed hike.”

“Instead, the long end is responding to persistent inflation risks, heavy government borrowing and growing competition for capital—including debt issuance associated with the AI investment boom,” Hathorn said.

She added, “That creates an uncomfortable environment for equities because financial conditions can tighten even without the Fed raising rates.”

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. rose by slightly less than expected in the month of July.

The Fed said industrial production crept up by 0.2 percent in July after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in June.

Economists had expected industrial production to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 5 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Considerable weakness was also visible among networking and computer hardware stocks, contributing to the slump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Gold stocks also moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.9 percent.

Airline, housing and steel stocks also saw notable weakness, while pharmaceutical, healthcare and energy stocks showed strong moves to the upside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are inching up $0.06 to $85 a barrel after climbing $0.44 to $84.94 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,452.30, up $31.70 compared to the previous session’s close of $4,420.60. On Tuesday, gold slumped $53.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.57 yen compared to the 159.62 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1625 compared to yesterday’s $1.1574.

Asia

Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Wednesday amid concerns about surging oil prices and rising bond yields.

Chip makers and other major technology shares succumbed to heavy selling pressure after a closely tracked U.S. semiconductor index sank 5 percent overnight on signs of rising borrowing costs around the world.

The dollar hovered near multi-year lows, while Treasury yields eased from recent highs ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting later in the day.

Gold edged up to $4,356 an ounce after tumbling nearly 2 percent in the previous session to snap a two-day rise amid a sell-off in bond markets.

Brent crude futures rose toward $92 a barrel, extending gains for a fourth consecutive session after the American Petroleum Institute estimated that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 328,000 barrels in the week ending August 14, marking their first decline in five weeks.

A bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, raising the prospect of ongoing disruptions to supply.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.4 percent to 3,894.42 as semiconductor and robotics shares came under heavy selling pressure despite Unitree’s strong market debut.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index swung between gains and losses before finishing marginally higher at 25,495.07.

Japanese markets fell sharply amid stalled U.S.-Iran diplomacy efforts and higher bond yields. The Nikkei 225 Index plunged 3.2 percent to 65,326.42, while the broader Topix Index settled 3.1 percent lower at 4,012.31.

Artificial intelligence and data center-related shares paced the decliners, with Kioxia Holdings diving 12.6 percent and SoftBank losing 10.3 percent. Advantest declined 2.3 percent and Tokyo Electron lost a little over 3 percent.

The yen was firm against the dollar after data showed Japan’s core machinery orders, an indicator of future business spending, rebounded more than expected in June.

Seoul stocks plummeted to hit a one-week low amid a global bond rout and renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia.

The Kospi Index plunged 5.8 percent to 6,471.17, led by steep losses in chipmakers. Samsung Electronics slumped 7.8 percent and SK Hynix nosedived 9.8 percent.

Australian markets ended lower for a sixth consecutive session after wage growth data for the June quarter highlighted persistent price pressures in the economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.2 percent to 9,053.80, dragged down by financials on housing jitters. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended 0.2 percent lower at 9,255.20.

WiseTech Global shares plunged 8.7 percent after antitrust authorities raided the offices of the logistics software provider over alleged breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.5 percent to 13,929.67, extending gains from the previous session to reach its highest level since August 6 following better-than-expected annual results from Fletcher Building and Ebos Group.

Europe

European stocks have held steady on Wednesday as global bond yields pull back from recent highs and investor focus shifts to the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting due later in the day.

Yields on German and French debt steadied after the 30-year U.S. yield eased to around 5.27 percent from 5.3371 percent reached on Tuesday, the highest in nearly 20 years.

The British pound held steady after data showed U.K. inflation rose as expected in July due to higher household energy prices.

The consumer price index posted annual growth of 2.9 percent in July, faster than the 2.6 percent rise in June.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

In corporate news, Straumann shares have moved sharply lower. The Swiss dental implants maker reported first-half net profit below analysts’ expectations.

Danish brewer Carlsberg has also tumbled after its first-half 2026 operating results came in below expectations.

Smith & Nephew has also slumped. The British medical technology company disclosed that its CFO John Rogers has resigned from the board with immediate effect to take a new position in the United States.

Meanwhile, sanitary products maker Geberit has soared after reporting better-than-expected second quarter results.

U.S. Economic News

The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its crude oil inventories in the week ended August 14th at 10:30 am ET. Crude oil inventories are expected to inch up by 0.2 million barrels.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $16 billion worth of twenty-year bonds.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its July 28-29 monetary policy meeting at 2 pm ET.