Global Markets Mostly Lower as Fed Minutes Awaited

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open Tuesday after a narrowly mixed close on Wall Street. Investors await the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting on Wednesday and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday. Hopes for peace in Ukraine gained momentum after President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders met with President Trump in Washington Monday, keeping oil markets under pressure. The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields were little changed early in European trading, while bitcoin continued to pull back. The Home Depot reports earnings later.

• U.S. stock futures across the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were down around 0.1%, Asian indexes closed lower and European markets eked out small gains shortly after the open.
• The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies, with the DXY dollar index flat at 98.124.
• U.S. Treasury yields were also little changed, having risen marginally on Monday. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was recently down 0.6 basis point to 3.766%; the 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 4.338%, while the 30-year yield drifted 0.7 basis point lower to 4.935%, according to LSEG.
• Bitcoin continued to ease from last week's record high. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that the U.S. doesn't plan to acquire more crypto assets for its bitcoin reserve, while bitcoin has also eased along with other risky assets. Bitcoin was recently down 1.2% to $115,070 after earlier hitting a nearly two-week low of $114,485, LSEG data show. It reached a record high of $124,480 Thursday.
• Japanese government bonds extended their price declines after the Japanese Finance Ministry's auction earlier Tuesday of 20-year sovereign debt drew somewhat weak demand. After the auction, yields on 10-year JGBs were up 2 basis points at 1.590%, while those on 20-year sovereign debt were up 2.5 basis points.
• In the U.K., government bond yields were at multiweek highs, with the 10-year yield at an 11-week high of 4.750% and the 30-year yield at a four-month high of 5.622%, according to Tradeweb, ahead of data on Wednesday, again expected to show higher inflation.
• Benchmark oil prices were lower early in Europe, with Brent crude and WTI both down 0.9% at $66.03 a barrel and $62.14 a barrel, respectively. Expectations of a large supply surplus ahead and uncertainties over the demand outlook are hanging over the market, with continuing push for peace in Ukraine further pressuring prices.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com