US equity markets are heading for a timid rebound at the opening bell on Wednesday, as the rapid rise in bond yields appears to be taking a breather.

Half an hour before the start of the session, futures on New York's main indices were up between 0.1% and 0.3%, suggesting a modest recovery from the upheavals of the early part of the week.

The positive trend is underpinned by the precarious lull that is settling over the bond market after an episode of tension that had particularly weighed on equities in recent days.

Fears of reawakening inflation, which are likely to lead the Federal Reserve to postpone its rate cuts, have caused long rates to soar.

"Several central banks have nonetheless begun to initiate their monetary easing cycle", commented the analysts at Capital Economics.

This clearly shows the influence of the USA on the rest of the world", stresses the London-based research firm.

However, the research firm expects bond yields to fall soon, with the first rate cuts by central banks, and equities to rise against the backdrop of the AI frenzy.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasuries is retreating towards 4.65% this morning, after having approached the 4.60% threshold yesterday, reaching a peak of almost five months.

The lull in bond yields will be put to the test tomorrow by a new salvo of economic indicators, including among others jobless claims, the Philadelphia Fed index and the Conference Board's leading indicators.

If yields are rising, it's also because the economic news is good", recalls one trader, who believes that investors are currently torn between the resilience of activity and valuations deemed particularly high.

In the immediate term, the easing of interest-rate tensions could mean a return to form for technology stocks, with Netflix kicking off the sector's releases tomorrow.

Oil prices, whose recent rise had also fuelled fears of a re-acceleration in inflation, are in the red this Wednesday.

The price of a barrel of US light crude (WTI) is down 1.2% at $84.3, as we await the release of US weekly inventories later this morning.

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