(Reuters) - U.S. equity futures pointed to a fifth day of losses for the main indexes on Wednesday, spooked by a rise in bond yields and nerves ahead of earnings from scandal-hit Facebook.
Yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR held above 3 percent after crossing the level for the first time in four years on Tuesday, stoking concerns about higher borrowing rates for companies already facing rising costs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed down 1.7 percent after Caterpillar (CAT.N) said first-quarter earnings would be the "high water mark" for the year and warned of higher material costs, especially steel, which surged after the U.S. President announced tariffs on the metal.
Boeing (BA.N), the single largest U.S. exporter to China, rose 2.4 percent after it reported a 57 percent rise in profit, while also raising its full-year forecast for earnings per share and cash flow.
Reuters data shows that analysts are now estimating 21.1 percent growth in profits in the first quarter among the S&P 500 companies, compared with 18.6 percent growth rate at the start of the earnings season.
“The markets are reacting to yields moving higher,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. “The new trading range will continue to cap equities from positively responding to good earnings news.”
Investors are not enthused by just strong quarterly reports, but are looking for signs the strength could sustain as inflation is picking up and the Federal Reserve is in no mood to put the brakes on its own rate-hike program.
At 7:45 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis
