Stock Market Today: Stocks rebound as markets eye looming inflation test

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U.S. equity futures bounced higher Wednesday, while the dollar edged lower and Treasury bond yields steadied, as investors looked to snap a losing streak on Wall Street while eying inflation data later in the week.

Stocks ended modestly lower Tuesday, extending Wall Street's losing streak to three sessions, as a stronger-than-expected reading for February durable-goods orders and a steady reading for consumer confidence nudged Treasury yields higher and thin trading volumes kept investors from extending risk.

Tuesday's trading volume of around 10.2 billion shares was around 15% below the 20-day average, Broader market-volatility readings held near multimonth lows with the VIX index pegged at around $12.95.

However, a second solid auction from the Treasury this week, a $67 billion sale of new 5-year notes, kept yields from advancing into the close of the session. That's even as traders largely held onto their view that the Federal Reserve will implement the first of three 2024 interest-rate cuts in June. 

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were little changed at 4.228% in early Wednesday trading, ahead of a $43 billion 7-year auction later in the session, while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.587%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.03% lower at 104.267.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish its key reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge on Friday, despite markets being closed for the Good Friday observance.

Markets often key on the bureau's core PCE price index, which the Fed considers a more accurate representation of consumer-price pressures since it blends changes in spending patterns.

Economists are looking for the core PCE index to hold at 2.8% while the headline reading quickens modestly to 2.5%.

Global oil prices moved lower in overnight trading, following on from a second day of declines Tuesday, after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. domestic crude stockpiles rose by a larger-than-expected 9.3 million barrels last week.

The Energy Department is set to publish official data on crude inventories and overall exports at 10:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time.

Brent crude futures contracts for May delivery, the global pricing benchmark, were trading 60 cents lower at $85.63 a barrel. WTI futures for the same month, which are tightly linked to domestic gasoline prices, fell 54 cents to $81.08 per barrel.

Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 9.09% for the year, are indicating a 23-point opening-bell gain.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, suggest a 185-point advance while those linked to the Nasdaq are priced for a 96-point rise.  

In overseas markets, Europe's regionwide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.01% lower on the session in early Frankfurt trading while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.28% in London.

Overnight in Asia, officials in Japan made the most significant signal to date that they're ready to intervene in the currency market, after the yen fell to a fresh 34-year low of 151.8 against the U.S. dollar. That extended a one-year decline of around 14%.

The Nikkei 225 was marked 0.9% higher on the session at 40,726.73 points while the MSCI ex-Japan benchmark fell 0.33% into the close of trading.  

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