Big tech stocks faced a sea of red on Jan. 18, after rising high during the pandemic, as investors pull back after reports of interest rate hikes this year from central banks. The downturn is being blamed on surging bond yields as investors prepare for the curtailment of Federal Reserve stimulus. High growth firms saw their Nasdaq futures tumble as much as 2 percent, as tech stocks lead declines in Europe. Tech stocks had largely benefitted from a low-interest-rate environment, but have started to feel the pressure after the Fed has signaled that it would reverse rate policy in 2022, after already slowing bond purchases in December. A rise in two-year U.S. Treasury yields reflected ramped-up bets for a U.S. policy rate hike as early as March, as the Fed tackles the strongest inflation since the 1980s. Investors are watching the next Fed meeting on Jan. 25-26, as the policymakers signaled they would …