US STOCKS-S&P, Nasdaq futures slip as yields firm ahead of inflation data

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* Futures: Dow up 0.2%, S&P down 0.1%, Nasdaq slips 0.5%

By Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar
March 10 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the
Nasdaq dipped on Wednesday as U.S. bond yields ticked higher
ahead of key bond auctions while investors cautiously awaited a
reading on inflation later in the day amid fears that the
economy could potentially overheat.
U.S. consumer prices are expected to tick higher to 0.4% in
February from 0.3% in the prior month. However, underlying
prices are likely to remain unchanged.
Accelerated vaccine rollouts and a new hefty round of fiscal
stimulus on the horizon have raised bets on higher inflation,
triggering a sharp rise in Treasury yields that knocked off the
tech-heavy Nasdaq about 7% from its Feb. 12 record closing high.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield US10YT=TWEB stood at
1.559%, well off its 13-month peak of 1.613% with focus on an
auction of U.S. 10-year and 30-year debt later in the day for
clues to where yields in the recently volatile market may be
headed. At 6:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 60 points, or
0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 4.75 points, or 0.12%
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 67.75 points, or 0.53%.
The Nasdaq logged its best one-day percentage jump in four
months on Tuesday, helped by a near 20% jump in Tesla Inc's
TSLA.O shares as investors picked up momentum stocks that had
recently taken a beating due to higher yields.
Nasdaq 100 futures NQcv1 dropped about 0.4% as Tesla
dropped about 1.5%, while Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O fell
between 0.2% and 0.7% in early trading.
Rising rates disproportionately hurt high-growth tech
companies because they are valued on earnings expected years
into the future.
A chunk of the $1.9 trillion relief aid, which is on track
to be signed into law later this week, is poised to end up in
the stock market and could provide a boost for GameStop GME.N
and other stocks popular among retail investors active in online
social media forums. Shares of GameStop jumped another 13%, setting the videogame
retailer on track for its longest streak of daily gains in six
months and extending a rally that has already doubled the
company's market value. Among other "meme" stocks, Koss Corp KOSS.O and AMC
Entertainment AMC.N climbed 5.6% and 6.7%.