Stock futures were falling Thursday as the rally that began the fourth quarter continued to lose steam.
Stocks had ticked briefly higher late Wednesday before ending the session in the red and halting a two-day winning streak that marked the start of the quarter.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq at last check were all around 0.5% lower.
The benchmark 10-year rate climbed more to 3.769%, while the 2-year yield rose to 4.14%.
On Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 42 points, or 0.14%, to 30,273, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.25%.
There were 219,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending Oct. 1, according to the US Department of Labor, up 29,000 from the previous week's revised level.
A survey from The Wall Street Journal says analysts forecast a rise of 203,000.
And analysts are awaiting Friday's jobs report, with analysts forecasting a rise of 275,000, according to The Journal.
President Joe Biden is "disappointed by the short-sighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of [President Vladimir] Putin's invasion of Ukraine," a White House statement said.
"At a time when maintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance, this decision will have the most negative impact on lower and middle-income countries that are already reeling from elevated energy prices."
In the past three months oil prices have dropped from $120 a barrel as traders mulled the prospect of a global recession. Bloomberg News reported Thursday morning that U.S. crude-oil futures were trading at more than $88 a barrel, up 11% this week.
Meantime, The Journal reported that the Biden administration is planning to ease sanctions on Venezuela, a move that could reopen U.S. and European markets to oil exports from the country.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's representatives and Twitter (TWTR) unsuccessfully discussed cutting the price at which the entrepreneur would buy the microblogging platform, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
And even as Musk has indicated that he would go forward with the original terms for the takeover, $54.20 a share or $44 billion, several issues remain unresolved, the paper said.
These include what the two sides would need to do before each would drop the lawsuit it filed against the other, and whether closing of the deal would be conditioned on Musk, securing financing, the paper reported.
Peloton Interactive (PTON) shares were falling in premarket trading following after The Journal said the interactive fitness company plans to slash about 500 jobs, roughly 12% of its remaining workforce, in the company’s fourth round of layoffs this year.
Chief Executive Barry McCarthy, who took over in February, said he is giving the unprofitable company another six months or so to significantly turn itself around and, if that fails, Peloton likely isn’t viable as a stand-alone company.
