US Stock Futures Fall as Rising Treasury Yields Press Tech Shares

U.S. stock futures fell early Monday, August 24, 2026, pressured by tech sector losses and elevated global Treasury yields following a losing week across major Wall Street indexes. The State Street Technology Select Sector ETF dropped nearly 1% in premarket trading as markets assessed fresh geopolitical tensions and upcoming economic data.

The pullbacks follow a difficult week for major indexes, during which the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, marking its second consecutive weekly decline. Simultaneously, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4% and 2%, respectively, snapping three-week winning streaks.

Technology hardware stocks led the premarket decline on Monday. Shares of Coherent fell 5%, while Lumentum slid 4.5%. Sandisk declined 4%, and both Corning and Seagate pulled back by 3%.

Rising global bond yields continue to weigh on equity markets after the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield topped 5.3% last week to reach levels not seen in nearly 20 years. Yields in France, Germany, and Japan also touched multiyear highs as investors weighed the inflationary pressures of a prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced measures to stabilize the long end of the U.S. yield curve, though market pressure remained elevated.

Narrative strategy around the U.S. Treasury's recent intervention points to a broader tactical shift in managing curve shifts, according to David Zervos, chief market strategist at Jefferies.

"I argue that the Treasury's surprise decision to upsize tactical long-end buybacks is effectively a Treasury-led 'Operation Twist' designed to counter shifts in shorter term market conditions, rather than a form of QE," Zervos said.

Although these tactical operations do not create bank reserves directly, they may still influence market liquidity and fiscal conditions, according to Jefferies.

"While buybacks do not create reserves and therefore lack QE's direct money-printing channel, I believe they do leave room for fiscal expansion and deliver some QE-like reflationary effects," Zervos said.

Yields eased slightly early Monday ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's upcoming address at the annual Jackson Hole symposium. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell more than 2 basis points to 4.7120%, the 30-year yield slipped to 5.2497%, and the 2-year yield dipped to 4.2209%.

In international markets, South Korea's Kospi dropped 3.12% to 6,696.96, while Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.74% lower at 65,528.09. Mainland China's CSI 300 fell 1.21%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.84%, and Europe's Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1% at the open.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.44% to 0.723 per U.S. dollar following a breakdown in trade negotiations between Ottawa and Washington. The Trump administration announced 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce retaliatory tariffs scheduled for Sept. 8.

Energy and commodity markets showed divergent trends on Monday morning. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 1.62% to $85.65 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 1.38% to $93.09 a barrel ahead of new U.S. sanctions against Iran.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined plans for an aggressive sanctions enforcement campaign against Tehran.

"At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," Bessent said in a post on X.

Bessent previously stated to CNBC that Washington intends to enforce maximum pressure to collapse Iran's economy while pushing international partners to cut financial ties.

"toughest sanctions in history," Bessent said.

Spot gold gained 0.75% to hit $4,637.28 per ounce, reaching its highest level since mid-May amid persistent U.S. dollar weakness. Investors now await July personal consumption expenditures price index data on Wednesday and tech earnings reports from Nvidia and Marvell Technology later this week.