US open: Stocks trade lower at the open as bond market concerns persist

Wall Street trading kicked off with heavy losses on Wednesday as concerns over bond markets, putting the S&P 500 on track for its longest losing streak since November 2016.

As of 1555 BST, the Dow Jones was down 1.16% to 26,123.50, while the S&P 500 was 1.10% weaker at 2,848.60 and the Nasdaq was 1.66% softer at 7,609.52.

Meanwhile, bond yields continued to inch higher, having eased back a little on Tuesday following fresh seven-year highs. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was up 1.8 basis points to 3.23%.

Market participants have been keeping a keen eye on Italy's bond markets as yields there spiked briefly after Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said there will be no changes to the government's budget.

Elsewhere, trade relations between the US and China were also on investors' minds again after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin renewed a warning to China not to engage in competitive currency devaluation.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "As previously argued there is a risk that a full-blown trade conflict leads naturally to a currency war as countries affected by tariffs devalue to remain competitive. Currency and trade are just two sides of the same coin. Without the firepower on trade, China’s chief weapon is its currency and it is no surprise if it were to utilise this."

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "There are a number of worries for investors right now, from the pace of rising bond yields and the impact on investor sentiment, to Italy’s populist coalition playing a game of chicken with the European Commission, stalling Brexit negotiations and the ongoing trade conflict between the US and China."

In corporate news, fastener and tools distributor Fastenal fell 5.3% after the bell despite posting better-than-expected third-quarter profit and sales.

Elsewhere, generic pharmaceuticals group Akorn dipped 2.71% in early trade despite receiving approval from the FDA for its bimatroprost ophthalmic solution.

US-listed shares of Chinese electric car maker Nio were 2.17% higher as it emerged that the second-biggest shareholder of Tesla - Baillie Gifford - has taken an 11.4% stake in the company.

Sears Holdings tumbled more than 36% following the bell after the Wall Street Journal reported that it has hired advisers to prepare a bankruptcy filing.

Footwear retailer DSW was down 7.37% after it and Authentic Brands agreed to buy the Camuto Group for about $375m.

On the data front, US wholesale price inflation slowed last month as goods prices dipped, but were steady at the 'core' level, although some economists believed that the latter might be peaking.

So-called total final demand prices rose by 0.2% month-on-month in September, according to the Department of Labor, but the year-on-year rate of change slowed from 2.8% in August to 2.6% for September.

Economists were anticipating a rise in headline producer prices of 0.2% versus the prior month and of 2.7% against the same month one year ago.

Good prices dipped by 0.1% on the month, Labor said, with food costs down by 0.6% and those for energy declining by 0.8%.