Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, September 25, 2026. Brendan McDermid | ReutersStock futures rose slightly on Tuesday evening, following another session in which stocks succumbed to pressure from rising bond yields. Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16%. S&P 500 futures also rose 0.16%. Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.26%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% and the broader Topix rose 0.6% on Wednesday. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi as well as small-cap Kosdaq added more than 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.36%. The 30-year Treasury yield hit a high above 5.6% on Tuesday, reaching levels not seen since June 2002. Meanwhile, the 10-year yield climbed to a new 2007 high near 5.3%. Those moves sent the Dow Jones down more than 100 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. Those moves came even as oil prices fell that day. Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted that stocks are “trying to hold up, but tighter financial conditions are emboldening bears and raising interest in short-covering.” To be sure, new comments from New York Federal Reserve President John Williams seemed to have eased fears of higher rates from the central bank, at least for the moment. Williams said Tuesday night that “there is no need for urgency and we have time to gather more information” before the Federal Reserve’s October meeting. CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows traders are pricing in a 49% chance of a quarter-point rate hike next month. That’s down from 71% on Monday. Heading into Wednesday, traders will have their eyes on the August reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones see the metric rising 0.3% for the month, leading to a 3.7% annual pace. Wednesday is the last day of September and the third quarter. Market performance has been mixed in both periods. For the month, the S&P 500 and Dow are tracking declines, while the Nasdaq is up more than 1%. For the quarter, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2%, while the Dow Jones lost nearly 2%.
