Global stocks tumble as rising bond yields worry investors – with all eyes on Fed chair Jerome Powell

Global stocks tumble as rising bond yields worry investors – with all eyes on Fed chair Jerome Powell

Global stocks tumbled on Thursday after US equities dropped sharply the previous day, with rising bond yields causing investors to question the sky-high valuations of tech stocks in particular.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% after a sharp fall on Wednesday, while Dow Jones futures slipped 0.15%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index fell 0.43% as investors cooled on some of the market's flashiest names.

A rise in bond yields unnerved investors on Wednesday, causing the Nasdaq to tumble 2.7%, with Tesla dropping 4.8% and Amazon shedding 2.9%. The Nasdaq has soared more than 80% from its March lows, making some investors anxious.

The nerves spread to Asia overnight, with China's CSI 300 dropping 3.15% and Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 2.13%.

European stocks then opened lower, with the continent-wide Stoxx 600 down 0.64% in early trading and the UK's FTSE 100 off by 1.08%.

The catalyst for the stock-market jitters has been rising bond yields, with the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note touching 1.5% on Wednesday before easing. It had fallen 0.6 basis points to 1.464% on Thursday morning.

Ultra-low yields have supported the boom in equities - and tech stocks in particular - by driving investors towards fast-growing stocks that offer strong returns.

But