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Futures down: Dow 0.53%, S&P 500 1%, Nasdaq 1.42%

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Netflix ( NFLX ) down on JPM analyst focus list removal

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Blackstone infrastructure unit to acquire TXNM Energy ( TXNM )

(Updates prices before markets open)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Kanchana Chakravarty

May 19 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open lower on

Monday as Treasury yields rose after Moody's downgraded the U.S.

sovereign rating, sharpening focus on its mounting debt.

Moody's cut the United States' sovereign credit rating to

"Aa1" from "Aaa" late on Friday owing to concerns about its

ballooning $36-trillion debt, becoming the last of the three

major credit rating agencies to downgrade the country. It had

first given the U.S. its pristine "Aaa" rating in 1919.

"Nothing new, but it's putting a lot of things that the

market has worried about rightfully back into focus," said Ross

Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.

"The trade headwinds keep markets volatile, but this

morning in particular it's about the Moody's downgrade."

Worries about the ever-increasing U.S. deficit were front

and center as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut

bill - which had been stalled for days by Republican infighting

over spending cuts - won approval from a key congressional

committee on Sunday.

At 08:41 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 226 points,

or 0.53%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 59.75 points, or 1%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 304.75 points, or

1.42%.

Meanwhile, yields on U.S. government bonds - which move

inversely to prices - ticked higher, with the 10-year note

rising 10.9 basis points to 4.548% and the 30-year

note touching 5.02%.

Highly valued technology stocks took a hit in premarket

trading as rising rates tend to discount the present value of

future profits.

Tesla led losses among megacap and growth stocks

with a 3.8% fall.

Chip stocks also sold off, with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

and Nvidia ( NVDA ) dropping about 2% each and Intel ( INTC )

losing 1.5%.

The S&P 500 had registered its fifth straight day of

gains on Friday, closing out the week with firm gains as markets

took heart from a temporary tariff truce between the U.S. and

China, along with tame inflation data.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in television

interviews over the weekend that Trump would impose tariffs at

the rates he had threatened last month on trading partners that

do not negotiate deals in "good faith".

The quarterly earnings season is winding up as more than 90%

of S&P 500 companies have reported results.

Dow component Home Depot ( HD ) and retailer Target ( TGT )

are among those slated to report earnings later this

week.

Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic said the central bank

might only be able to cut interest rates by a quarter point

through the rest of the year, given the concern about rising

inflation stoked by higher import taxes.

In other moves, Netflix ( NFLX ) fell 1.7% after J.P.Morgan

removed the stock from its U.S. Analyst focus list.

TXNM Energy ( TXNM ) jumped 9.1% after the utility said it

would be acquired by the infrastructure unit of Blackstone

in an $11.5-billion deal.

Reddit ( RDDT ) dropped 7.1% after Wells Fargo downgraded

the social media company to "equal weight" from "overweight".