Futures tepid after S&P 500 ends at record level

By Shivani Kumaresan

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Friday as a rise in bond yields weighed on richly valued technology stocks a day after the S&P 500 closed at a record high.

High-flying Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc. Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc were down between 0.2% and 0.5% in premarket trading as yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury ticked higher to 1.67%.

A recent pullback in the yield has pushed the Nasdaq to seven-week highs and within 2% of its February record level.

Weaker-than-expected labor market data on Thursday eased inflation worries and validated the U.S. Federal Reserve’s accommodative stance, lifting the tech-heavy Nasdaq 1% higher and powering the S&P 500 to a record close.

Bank of America’s weekly fund flow figures showed investors have pumped more money into equities over the past five months than in the last 12 years, as ultra-easy monetary policies and unprecedented stimulus have sparked a secular shift into stocks.

On the economic front, data on U.S. producer prices, an inflation indicator, is on tap at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).

President Joe Biden will release his first budget proposal to Congress on Friday, offering a long-awaited glimpse into a policy agenda that will mark a sharp departure from his predecessor, Donald Trump.

At 6:47 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 66 points, or 0.2%, &P 500 E-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.11% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 9.75 points, or 0.07%.

Trading volumes have dwindled heading into the start of the earnings season next week. Analysts expect S&P 500 profits to jump about 25% year on year, the strongest first-quarter performance since 2018, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Big U.S. lenders including Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo & Co and Morgan Stanley were up between 0.4% and 0.8% in early trading.

(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)