Before the bell: Accenture jumps 17% premarket; 10-year yield hits 5.33%, highest since 2002

U.S. stock futures were higher early Thursday, the first trading day of the fourth quarter, even as Treasury yields climbed to levels last seen in 2002. December S&P 500 e-mini futures were at 7,740.50 at 7:16 a.m., up 0.32% from Wednesday's settlement, with Nasdaq-100 futures up 0.65%, Dow futures up 0.06% and Russell 2000 futures up 0.11%, on Yahoo Finance quotes. Live levels: markets board.

Yields and oil

The 10-year Treasury yield rose about 4 basis points to 5.33% this morning, its highest since April 2002, and the 30-year reached 5.67%, its highest since July 2002, CNBC reported from LSEG data. The selling is global: CNBC put Germany's 10-year at 3.62%, the highest since 2008, and Japan's at 3.13%, a three-decade high. Wednesday's official closes were 5.29% for the 10-year and 4.88% for the 2-year, on Treasury data. Chart: 10-year T-note.

Brent crude for December was up 2.2% at $100.15 and WTI for November up 1.5% at $91.74, CNBC said, after Reuters reported Chinese refiners had suspended October gasoline and jet fuel exports. That matters more for fuel than for crude: Middle East crude flows are reported near prewar levels, but refined products are not, as we reported this week. Fleets that buy diesel and jet fuel feel a product squeeze before a crude chart shows it.

24,679 independent trucking and freight are listed on CheckThisBiz, a directory of 7,704,724 independent US businesses, including 2,868 in TX, 2,828 in CA, 1,916 in FL. Chains and franchises are excluded from that count, so these are the owner-operated businesses that actually apply for funding.

On the calendar

Weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, forecast at 200,000 after 197,000, and the ISM manufacturing index at 10 a.m., forecast at 55 after 54.6, on our economic calendar. Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate comes out at noon; last week's 30-year average was 7.03%, on Freddie Mac data. Nike reports after the close (our preview), and the September jobs report is Friday, forecast at 90,000.

Movers

• Accenture: $215.50, up 17.5%, on Nasdaq premarket quotes. Its fourth-quarter release showed revenue of $18.68 billion, above its own guided range of $17.75 billion to $18.40 billion, and GAAP EPS of $3.29. It guided fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency. The numbers the headline skips: quarterly free cash flow fell to $2.85 billion from $3.81 billion, and days sales outstanding rose to 50 from 47. On average, it is taking three days longer to collect from clients than a year ago.
• Micron: $1,058.84, down 0.6%, after fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion beat the $51.07 billion consensus and it guided to about $61.5 billion this quarter against $57 billion expected, CNBC reported. The shares are up 273% this year. Our full read: Micron's quarter.
• Crypto: Bitcoin was $83,808 on Coinbase, little changed from its 24-hour open, and Ether $2,696, flat.

Sources: Accenture (SEC filing), CNBC, Reuters via CNBC, U.S. Treasury, Freddie Mac, Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq.com premarket quotes, Coinbase Exchange, Chronicle markets board. Premarket prices move quickly and early volume is thin. This is market information, not investment advice.