* GM slides despite posting quarterly profit
* Banks track weakness in Treasury yields
* Amazon.com, Netflix, Facebook among rare gainers
* Futures off: Dow 0.30%, S&P 0.25%, Nasdaq 0.13% (Adds comments; updates prices)
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open lower on Wednesday following a record close for the S&P 500, while focus turned to data on the services sector for cues on whether a domestic economic rebound was stalling.
General Motors Co slid 3.6% even as it swung to a profit in the second quarter and lifted its full-year forecast.
Technology stocks including Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc, deemed “stay-at-home-winners” during last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns, were among the few gainers in premarket trading.
Demand for the growth stocks returned, rotating away from economy-linked sectors that include financials, industrials and energy, as signs of a slowing economic recovery and fresh COVID-19 fears hit bond yields and capped gains in riskier equities.
“The drop in bond yields is like a canary in the coal mine and is for now helping growth stocks, while large cyclical stocks are showing signs of weakness maybe because investors are questioning the passage of the huge infrastructure package,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Investor sentiment received a boost on Monday after the Senate introduced a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, but the Democratic and Republican leaders have squabbled over debate on amendments.
Meanwhile, data on Wednesday showed U.S. private payrolls increased far less than expected in July, likely constrained by shortages of workers and raw materials.
Focus now turns to the services sector activity data later in the day and the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report on Friday.
At 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 104 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 11.25 points, or 0.25%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 20 points, or 0.13%.
Banking stocks fell between 0.4% and 1.2%, tracking weakness in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield .
BorgWarner Inc slid 2.6% even as it beat profit expectations on strong consumer demand for new vehicles, while Kraft Heinz Co edged down 0.8% despite beating expectations for quarterly net sales.
Although second-quarter earnings from S&P 500 firms have so far been much better than expected, their shares have retreated as investors booked profits on lofty valuations.
Robinhood Markets Inc jumped 15.8%, setting up for a fourth straight session of gains after its tepid IPO last week, as star investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF bought more shares of the online brokerage.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani and Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
Source: Reuters