us stock indexes are likely to extend losses on wednesday after the dow ended tuesday at the lowest level of the year while traders await the release of the february ism manufacturing sector activity report on tuesday the dow jones industrial average fell 232 points or 071 to 32657 the sp 500 declined 12 points or 03 to 3970 and the nasdaq composite dropped 11 points or 01 to 11456 the dow jones industrial average fell 42 in february and is now down 15 for 2023 us index futures are pointing to further losses for wall street on wednesday after a tough february when worries that stubborn inflation would encourage central banks to keep raising interest rates pushed the sp 500 down 26 and forced 2year treasury yields to their highest since 2008 still a fresh month and news that chinas factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade were helping to support the sentiment on wednesday hong kongs hang seng index jumped 42 after the manufacturing purchasing managers index for the worlds second biggest economy showed a reading of 526 in february up from 501 the month before the ending of hong kongs mask mandate also lifted sentiment as it illustrated chinas continuing emergence from its covid lockdown londonlisted mining stocks were stronger on hopes of more raw material demand from china the covid crisis is receding rapidly in the rearview mirror and demand for raw materials to keep factory lines rolling is expected to be brisk brent crude has ticked up on the news heading towards 84 a barrel amid expectations that industry hunger for energy in china will mount said susannah streeter head of money and markets at hargreaves lansdown however the sight of firmer energy prices is likely to remind investors that improving economic activity in china may add to inflationary pressures thereby sending us stock futures lower as the market remains wary of tighter monetary policy rate hike uncertainty continues to plague the broader market as the fed rules with an iron fist said stephen innes managing partner at spi asset management us economic updates set for release on wednesday include the final reading of the sp global manufacturing pmi for february at 945 am eastern followed at 10 am by the february ism manufacturing report and the january construction spending data minneapolis fed president neel kashkari is due to speak at 9 am