07:45 AM EDT, 05/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The main US stock measures were pointing lower in Wednesday's premarket activity as traders monitor developments on President Donald Trump's key budget bill.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.7% each before the opening bell, while the Nasdaq was off 0.8%. The indexes finished Tuesday's trading session in the red, with the S&P 500 snapping a six-day rally.

Trump held a meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday to rally support for his budget bill, which includes increased spending for immigration enforcement and extended tax cuts, according to several media publications.

Last week, Moody's lowered the long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings of the US government to Aa1 from Aaa, citing a sustained increase in debt and interest payment ratios. The ratings agency revised its outlook on the US to stable from negative.

US Treasury yields moved higher in premarket action, with the two-year rate rising 2.6 basis points to nearly 4% and the 10-year rate climbing 5.6 basis points to 4.54%. The 30-year rate inclined 6 basis points to 5.03%.

Wednesday's economic calendar has the weekly mortgage applications bulletin at 7 am ET, followed by the Atlanta Fed business inflation expectations report for May and the weekly EIA domestic petroleum inventories report.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin is scheduled to speak at 12 pm. On Tuesday, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said tariffs are expected to "dampen" economic activity and result in "some further softening" of the labor market.

China's commerce ministry reportedly said Wednesday that it will take legal action against any entity or individual that assists the US in advising customers to not use its advanced semiconductors. The US Commerce Department had previously warned that using China-based Huawei's chips "anywhere in the world" would breach US export controls before later removing the place reference, according to Bloomberg News.

Washington and Beijing recently agreed to suspend most reciprocal duties on each other's goods for 90 days. The two sides had been in a trade war since President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping new tariffs early last month.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) fell 3.9% pre-bell despite the cybersecurity firm's stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) advanced 5.6% as the electronics test and measurement equipment manufacturer lifted its full-year growth expectations. Lowe's (LOW) rose 2.5% as the home improvement retailer reiterated its fiscal 2025 outlook.

TJX (TJX), Full Truck Alliance ( YMM ) , Medtronic ( MDT ) , Target ( TGT ) , Baidu ( BIDU ) , Xpeng ( XPEV ) , Wix.com ( WIX ) and Dycom Industries ( DY ) post their latest earnings before the bell, among others. Snowflake (SNOW), Zoom Communications ( ZM ) and Urban Outfitters ( URBN ) release their results after the markets close.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased 1.1% to $62.74 a barrel before in premarket activity. Gold moved up 1% to $3,319 per troy ounce, while bitcoin slipped 0.2% to $106,419.