U.S. stock futures edge lower after Wall Street rallies on softer oil, yields

U.S. stock index futures edged down Thursday night, losing momentum after Wall Street posted strong gains, driven by lower oil prices and Treasury yields following the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike.

By 19:14 ET (23:14 GMT), S&P 500 Futures were down 0.09% at 7.699.75 points. Nasdaq 100 Futures slipped 0.17% to 29,694.50 points, and Dow Jones Futures dropped 0.09% to 52,173.0 points.

The retreat in futures followed a robust Wall Street session, which rebounded after three consecutive days of declines ahead of Wednesday's rate increase.

Technology and semiconductor stocks ranked among the session's top performers, recovering from sharp losses earlier in the week as investors overlooked worries about a slowdown in artificial intelligence development.

Wall Street heartened by declines in oil, yields

Wall Street drew support partly from lower oil prices, with some reports pointing to improved flows in the Middle East even as fighting between Saudi forces and Houthis continued.

Crude erased its gains for the week after reports said Saudi Arabia was sending more oil to Asian buyers via Oman, helping to offset some supply disruptions caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia is also anticipated to restart its main east-west pipeline, which was closed last week because of Houthi strikes.

However, Riyadh kept clashing with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, and the Strait of Hormuz remained shut, which provided a floor for oil prices.

A steep decline in yields also gave Wall Street encouragement, as the 10-year rate fell below 5% after the Fed raised interest rates and adopted a hawkish tone.

The central bank lifted rates for the first time in three years, and Chair Kevin Warsh cautioned that inflation remained too high—a situation likely to prompt additional rate hikes.

Yields nonetheless dropped after the move, as the hike and the Fed's guidance helped reduce some uncertainty about the path of rates and the U.S. economy.

Wednesday's decision also strengthened expectations that the Fed was taking action to lower inflation and stabilize the economy.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.1% on Thursday. The NASDAQ Composite led with a 1.7% gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%.

All three indexes were trading in a flat-to-lower range for the week.