MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Poised For Decline As Dow Futures Drop More Than 200 Points

Yield on 10-year bond continues to creep higher

Stocks were poised to decline for a second day on Tuesday, as a rise in bond yields undercut global equities.

U.S. stock index futures extended losses, with Dow futures off more than 200 points after Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced they would partner in an effort to cut health care costs and improve services for U.S. employees. Shares of several health care companies fell in premarket action.

Meanwhile, climbing U.S. bond yields, which imply a rise in borrowing costs, looked set to weigh on stocks in a repeat of Monday's action.

Investors are looking ahead to the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump, while a busy day for corporate earnings will see big names such as McDonalds Corp. and Pfizer Inc. report.

What are stock futures doing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 227 points, or 0.9%, to 26,203, while those for the S&P 500 index dropped 14.7 points, or 0.5%, to 2,838.905. Nasdaq-100 futures fell 31.5 points, or 0.5%, to 6,961.

The Dow and S&P 500 had their worst day of the year so far on Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-set-to-ease-back-from-records-ahead-of-blockbuster-week-2018-01-29), with each gauge closing down 0.7%, to 26,439.48 and 2,853.53, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 39.27 points, or 0.5%, to 7,466.51, to log its second-worst daily drop this year.

What are the drivers for the markets?

Higher borrowing costs, which weighed on stocks Monday, showed no signs of letting up. Rising bond yields can crimp demand for assets perceived as riskier, such as stocks, particularly when those yields are higher than those of equities.

On Monday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury shot to 2.695% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-year-treasury-yield-trades-above-27-highest-since-april-2014-2018-01-29), its highest level since April 2014, having touched an intraday high of 2.727%. The yield remained above the 2.7% level on Tuesday.

Politics and economics may provide a catalyst for investors, with Trump set to deliver his State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Ahead of that, the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day policy meeting.

Read: State of the Uniom? Typo forces tickets to be reissued (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/state-of-the-uniom-typo-forces-tickets-to-be-reissued-2018-01-29)

This week's earnings rollout, with over 100 S&P 500 names due to report, kicks off in earnest on Tuesday. However, some of the biggest names will come later in the week. Facebook Inc. (FB) is set to report Wednesday, while Apple Inc.(AAPL), Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) are all expected on Thursday.

Plus: Earnings previews for Apple (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26), Facebook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-earnings-how-will-news-feed-changes-impact-revenue-2018-01-26), Alibaba (), AMD (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amd-earnings-mining-for-crypto-gold-more-spectre-details-2018-01-26) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amd-earnings-mining-for-crypto-gold-more-spectre-details-2018-01-26), Alphabet (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-google-hardware-push-should-boost-non-advertising-business-2018-01-29) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-google-hardware-push-should-boost-non-advertising-business-2018-01-29) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-google-hardware-push-should-boost-non-advertising-business-2018-01-29), Qualcomm (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomm-earnings-last-peek-before-investors-decide-fate-of-standalone-company-2018-01-29)

What are strategists saying?

"Concerns are starting to enter the market that inflation could be catching up and higher interest rates could pour cold water on the bull run," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group, in a note. "Higher costs of borrowing could potentially put those companies under pressure, which have been relying on cheap money to grow."

"There was nothing particularly igniting the selloff. However there's no doubt that global yields remain too low given strong growth, the likely pick up in US inflation," said a team of strategists at Deutsche Bank led by Jim Reid, in a note to clients.

"Despite the notable rise in 10-year Treasury yields, our US economists believe there is considerable scope for bond yields to rise before they weigh on growth and equities," Reid added.

What's on the economic docket?

Case-Shiller home prices for November are due at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, while the Conference's Board Consumer Confidence Survey for January is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Plus:U.S. economy to keep on truckin' in early 2018 despite cold snap, hiring drop-off (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-economy-keeps-on-truckin-in-early-2018-despite-cold-snap-hiring-dropoff-2018-01-21)

Check out:MarketWatch's Economic Calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)

Which stocks look like key movers?

Shares of Dow component United Health Group (UNH) dropped more than 6% in premarket action following the announcement by Amazon (AMZN), Berkshire (BRKA) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) that they would partner in an effort to cut health care costs and improve services for U.S. employees. Pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacy chains and drug distributors (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/health-care-company-shares-drop-sharply-on-entry-by-amazon-berkshire-hathaway-and-jpmorgan-2018-01-30) were also hit in premarket action. The SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF (XLV) dropped more than 2%.

Harley-Davidson Inc.(HOG) shares tumbled 6% in premarket after the motorcycle maker posted a sales drop. Pfizer Inc.(PFE) gave up early gains to trade 2% lower even as the pharmaceutical group posted stronger-than-expected earnings. Aetna Inc.(AET) slipped nearly 2% after the insurer reported results.

McDonald's Corp.(MCD) reported earnings that beat estimates but shares were still down 0.9% premarket. Corning Inc.(GLW) earnings results are still to come.

Electronic Arts Inc.(EA) will report after the regular close of markets.

Apple shares slipped nearly 1% in premarket, after The Wall Street Journal reported (https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-to-curtail-iphone-x-production-in-the-face-of-weak-demand-1517312098), citing sources, that the company is cutting production for the iPhone X for the quarter ending March 31. A similar report in the Nikkei Asian Review weighed on shares Monday.

Read: The Apple iPhone-production slowdown story is back again (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-iphone-production-slowdown-this-happens-every-year-and-hits-stock-every-time-2018-01-29)

MetLife Inc.(MET) shares fell 4.5% in premarket after the insurer said Monday that it will postpone earnings and revise prior financial reports (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/metlife-shares-sink-after-postponing-earnings-due-to-unpaid-pensions-2018-01-29) over unpaid pensions.

Opinion:13 stocks these winning stock pickers recommend now (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/13-stocks-these-winning-stockpickers-recommend-now-2018-01-30)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/13-stocks-these-winning-stockpickers-recommend-now-2018-01-30)Read:Steve Wozniak says he doesn't trust Elon Musk or Tesla anymore (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/steve-wozniak-says-he-doesnt-trust-elon-musk-or-tesla-anymore-2018-01-29)

What are other markets doing?

Monday's Wall Street selloff echoed around the globe, as European stock markets opened lower at the open and Asian equity markets came under pressure (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asia-pacific-markets-slide-after-wall-street-stumbles-2018-01-29) Tuesday.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index erased an earlier gain and fell 0.3% to 89.055, while gold futures recovered from an earlier dip, rising $3.40 to $1,343.70 an ounce.

Oil futures lost nearly 1% to reach $64.92 a barrel (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-crude-climbs-as-brent-slips-but-supply-worries-may-prove-a-drag-2018-01-29).

Bitcoin prices were off over 2% to around $10,907.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2018 08:36 ET (13:36 GMT)