U.S. stock futures were swinging between gains and losses on Thursday after snapping a three-day winning streak on Wednesday. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed in premarket trading.
Aiming to boost U.S. manufacturing and reduce reliance on global suppliers, new auto tariffs were introduced on Wednesday, which will go into effect from April 3.
Projected to generate $100 billion annually, President Donald Trump stated the policy “will continue to spur growth.” It’s noted that within the USMCA agreement, the 25% tariff only impacts the non-U.S. content of auto goods from Canada and Mexico.
With the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.38% and the 2-year at 4.02%, the CME Group's FedWatch tool shows markets pricing in a 90.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve maintaining current interest rates through its May meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.01% |
| S&P 500 | 0.07% |
| Dow Jones | 0.17% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.31% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were mixed in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.10% to $569.18, while the QQQ declined 0.025% to $484.26, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session:
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday, with Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services, and Information Technology stocks recording the biggest losses.
However, Utilities and Consumer Staples bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.
Dragging the tech-heavy index Nasdaq down were major stocks like Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which fell over 2%, while Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL declined more than 3%.
On the economic data front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods rose 0.9% month over month in February to $289.3 billion.
The Dow Jones index fell 133 points or 0.31% on Wednesday to 42,454.79, whereas the S&P 500 index was down 1.12% at 5,712.20. Nasdaq Composite notched a 2.04% drop to end at 17,899.02, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, declined 1.03% to 2,073.83.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -2.04% | 17,899.02 |
| S&P 500 | -1.12% | 5,712.20 |
| Dow Jones | -0.31% | 42,454.79 |
| Russell 2000 | -1.03% | 2,073.83 |
Insights From Analysts:
As Trump introduced auto tariffs and the date for implementing “reciprocal tariffs” near, Louis Navellier, the founder and CIO of Navellier & Associates, said, “Expect volatility. Buckle up.”
“We’re a week away from Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ when he plans to implement reciprocal tariffs, focusing on trading partners with significant trade imbalances with the U.S. It’s a risk factor that investors have never faced and may explain why the VIX is starting to rise again after falling since the March 10th high,” he added.
Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo, believes that although tariffs come with anticipated economic costs, actions by both companies and consumers can substantially lessen their negative impact.
“Let’s be clear: We expect tariffs to have some economic cost," Wren acknowledged. He pointed out that price hikes implemented by some U.S. firms due to tariffs have often been lower than the tariff percentage itself, noting that strong corporate profitability provides "some room to absorb a portion of the price increases."
Steps toward mitigation are already being taken, Wren indicated. "Keep in mind that some companies have been diversifying supply chains since the early days of the pandemic or even prior to that," he elaborated.
Consumer behavior also factors in. "Consumers can also blunt some of the effect of potential tariffs… for many products, there are substitution possibilities," Wren remarked, mentioning shifts toward domestic products as an example. He assesses that "these reactions will blunt and dilute much of the negative tariff impact."
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Thursday:
Stocks In Focus:
Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.39% to hover around $69.38 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar advanced 0.59% to hover around $3,036.97 per ounce. Its previous record high stood at $3,057.51 per ounce.
Asian markets closed on a mixed note on Thursday. China’s CSI 300, India's S&P BSE Sensex, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose in trade. Whereas, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Australia's ASX 200 index declined. European markets were lower in early trade.
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