STOCKS TODAY: Stocks Lower on Concerns Over Employment Data and Bauer's Speech

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U.S. stock futures were lower Wednesday, extending Wall Street's April losing streak to a third session, as investors looked to adjust the Federal Reserve's interest-rate expectations amid a surprisingly resilient domestic economy and renewed inflationary pressures.

Stocks closed lower again on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 down about 38 points and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hitting a four-month high of 4.41 TP3T. The market move came after stronger-than-expected February employment data and hawkish comments from several Fed officials.

At the start of the New York trading session, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.365% and the 2-year Treasury yield was at 4.705%.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was down 0.03% at 104.785.

Traders still think there's a 60%+ chance the Fed will start the first of its three rate cuts forecast for 2024 in June, but they're still eyeing labor market and inflation data ahead of Friday's key March jobs report.

ADP, a payroll processing group, will announce the number of new private sector jobs before the start of trading, and investors expect the number of new jobs to reach around 148,000.

Markets will also be digesting PMI and ISM services data ahead of Fed matron Jerome Powell's speech later in the day at the Stanford Business, Government and Society Forum in California.

"The recent speech by Powell hinted at a delayed rate cut, and while expectations are leaning toward a neutral stance, market participants expect Powell to remain cautious," said Bas Kooijman, an asset manager at DHF Capital in the Netherlands.

"Powell is expected to weigh the prospects for future interest rate adjustments in light of where the economy is, a situation that is likely to maintain a strong U.S. dollar exchange rate," he added.

On Wall Street, investors will also be watching the impact of Tuesday's 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan, the largest in 25 years, on the chip industry's supply chain. They are also awaiting the outcome of Disney's annual shareholders meeting and proxy fight.

Futures carriers linked to the S&P 500 opened down about 11 points, with the Dow down 30 points.

The tech-dominated Nasdaq Resonance Index (Nasdaq), which has risen 8.19% this year, is expected to fall 68 points.

Overnight, the Taiwan earthquake rocked Asian markets, with the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) ex-Japan index down 0.95% at the close, and the Nikkei 225 index down 0.97% at the close in Tokyo.

In Europe, inflation in the eurozone unexpectedly slowed down, with headline inflation pressures falling to 2.6% and core inflation below 3%, reinforcing the outlook for a rate cut by the ECB in June and lifting the French resonance resonance 600 index to positive territory.

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