The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to regain ground following the weakness seen in the previous session.
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to pullback by treasury yields, which are giving back ground along with the price of crude oil.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note is pulling back off its highest levels in well over a year as U.S. crude oil futures plunge by more than 3 percent.
Crude oil futures are extending the modest decrease seen in the previous session after President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. war with Iran will end "very quickly."
"We're going to end that war very quickly," Trump told lawmakers gathered at the White House for the annual congressional picnic on Tuesday. "They want to make a deal so badly."
"It's going to happen, and it's going to happen fast. And you're going to see oil prices plummet," the president added.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA) after the close of trading.
With Nvidia seen as a leader in the artificial intelligence space, the company's results and guidance could have a significant impact on the outlook for the markets.
Traders may also be reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of this afternoon's release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes of the Fed's April meeting, when the central bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged in an unusually divided vote, may shed light on the outlook for rates.
Following the mixed performance seen during Monday's session, the major U.S. stock indexes all moved to lower during trading on Tuesday. Stocks staged a recovery attempt in early afternoon trading but moved back to the downside going into the end of the day.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 220.02 points or 0.8 percent to 25,870.71, the S&P 500 fell 49.44 points or 0.7 percent to 7,353.61 and the Dow declined 322.24 points or 0.7 percent to 49,363.88.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumping to its highest levels since January 2025.
Concerns about elevated crude oil prices leading to a sustained acceleration in the pace of inflation continued to drive yields higher.
U.S. crude oil futures have given back some ground on the day but remain well above $100 a barrel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
While President Donald Trump claimed he called off an attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders, traders remain worried about a re-escalation of the conflict.
The high price of crude oil has led to speculation the Federal Reserve could actually raise interest rates in the coming months to combat inflation.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 41.9 percent chance rates will be a quarter point higher following the Fed's last monetary policy meeting of the year.
"While the Nasdaq remains near highs and the broader AI trade is still intact, recent sessions have seen some profit-taking in semiconductors and mega-cap tech as yields rise and positioning looks increasingly stretched," said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.
She added, "The market is not abandoning the earnings and AI story but the combination of higher oil, higher yields and extremely strong positioning is making it harder for the sector to continue its near-vertical ascent without pauses or pullbacks."
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing pending home sales in the U.S. jumped by more than expected in the month of April.
NAR said its pending home sales index shot up by 1.4 percent to 74.8 in April after surging by 1.7 percent to an upwardly revised 73.8 in March.
Economists had expected pending home sales to increase by 0.9 percent compared to the 1.5 percent leap originally reported for the previous month.
Gold stocks moved sharply lower amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.7 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month.
Substantial weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected, as reflected by the 3.4 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Housing, brokerage and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, while pharmaceutical, natural gas and healthcare stocks moved to the upside.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are tumbling $2.74 to $101.41 a barrel after slipping $0.23 to $104.15 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,499, down $12.20 compared to the previous session's close of $4,511.20. On Tuesday, gold slumped $46.80.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.99 yen compared to the 159.04 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1601 compared to yesterday's $1.1604.
Asia
Asian stocks tumbled on Wednesday as oil prices remained elevated on Hormuz concerns and global bond yields hit multi-year highs, raising concerns about inflation, interest rates and economic growth.
Investors also awaited Nvidia's upcoming earnings and forward guidance for fresh clues on the strength of artificial intelligence-driven demand.
The dollar was steady near a six-week high and gold dipped below $4,500 an ounce after yields on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds reached levels last seen in 2007.
Brent crude futures fell more than 1 percent toward $110 a barrel after NATO's top military commander said the alliance is not drawing up any plans for a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz.
China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent to 4,162.18 after the country's central bank left benchmark lending rates unchanged for the 12th consecutive month, as widely expected.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6 percent to 25,651.12 after war-driven fears hammered global bond markets.
Japanese markets fell sharply as the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond held at its highest level since 1997 on BoJ rate hike expectations.
The Nikkei 225 Index slumped 1.2 percent to 59,804.41, extending its losing streak for a fifth consecutive session amid heavy selling in tech stocks like SoftBank and Tokyo Electron. The broader Topix Index settled 1.5 percent lower at 3,791.65.
Seoul stocks ended lower for a second day running, with surging oil prices and a global bond sell-off weighing on market sentiment. The Kospi slid 0.9 percent to 7,208.95 as foreign investors continued heavy selling.
Among the prominent decliners, automaker Hyundai Motor fell 2 percent, its smaller affiliate Kia tumbled 3.6 percent and battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 3.9 percent.
Samsung Electronics ended marginally higher despite the labor union announcing plans to embark on a massive 18-day strike amid in impasse in negotiations over wage increases.
Australian markets fell sharply, with heavyweight banks and mining stocks pacing the decliners. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled 1.3 percent to 8,496.60, marking its lowest close since March-end.
The broader All Ordinaries Index ended 1.3 percent lower at 8,717 ahead of key jobs data for April, due on Thursday.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index dove 1.6 percent to 12,761.03, joining a global sell-off amid bets the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates this year.
Europe
European stocks have moved mostly higher in cautious trading on Wednesday, with Middle East tensions, upcoming Nvidia earnings and regional inflation data in focus.
Bond remained under pressure as money markets factor in interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve before the end of the year.
Oil prices traded lower after U.S. President Donald Trump said the war with Iran will end "very quickly."
On the trade front, the European Union has reached a provisional agreement to remove import duties on U.S. goods, keeping the bloc on track to meet Trump's July 4 deadline and avoid higher tariffs on European goods.
In economic news, German producer prices grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in April, reversing a 0.2 percent dip in March, Destatis reported. The rate was the highest since May 2023 and marked the first increase since February 2025.
Elsewhere, U.K. consumer price inflation slowed to 2.8 percent in April from 3.3 percent in March, reflecting the fall in energy bills and reduced costs for package holidays, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.7 percent.
Stellantis has moved to the upside. The automotive giant announced plans to form a Europe-based joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd to produce new energy vehicles.
Severn Trent shares have also surged. The water utility upgraded its adjusted earnings forecast for 2026 after reporting robust financial results for the second half of the year.
Retailer Marks & Spencer has also moved sharply higher after reporting a rebound in second-half profits.
Meanwhile, Norway's Webstep has tumbled after it reported a decline in first-quarter profit, impacted by reduced revenue.
Credit and data analytics firm Experian has also plunged in London despite reporting record annual results and announcing a fresh $1 billion share buyback program.
Coats Group, an industrial threads manufacturer, has also declined after reporting a slight fall in overall revenue at constant exchange rate.
U.S. Economic News
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr is due to speak on "Consumer Financial Health Metrics" before the Financial Health Network EMERGE Financial Health 2026 Conference at 9:15 am ET.
At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on oil inventories in the week ended May 15th. Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 2.9 million barrels.
The Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month's auction of $16 billion worth of twenty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.
At 2 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its April 28-29 monetary policy meeting, when the central bank once again left interest rates unchanged.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.