US pre-open: Major indices firmly in the red as tech sell-off continues

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the red ahead of the bell on Wednesday amid another round of selling in the tech sector.

As of 1235 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.88%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were trading 1.05% and 1.41% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 267.13 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as growth stocks continued to come under pressure as a result of inflationary fears.

On Wednesday, tech stocks were again under the cosh prior to the open as a result of a sharp drop in cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin falling below $40,000 for the first time in more than three months as a result of China warning financial institutions not to conduct crypto-related business.

Tesla, which holds a significant amount of bitcoin, dropped 2% in pre-market trading, while newly public crypto exchange Coinbase slipped 3%.

Other big-name tech stocks also struggled prior to the open, with Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Nvidia all moving around 1% lower before the start of trading.

On the macro front, mortgage applications increased for a second straight week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, jumping 1.2% week-on-week in the seven days ended 14 May.

Still to come, minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's most recent meeting will be published at 1900 BST.

In terms of earnings, Target shares traded higher after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, with sales surging 23% last quarter.

Still to come, Lowe's, L Brands, JD.com, and Cisco Systems were all slated to report quarterly results throughout the course of the day.