Donald Trump is greeted by traders as he walks the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 12, 2024.
Alex Brandon | AP
Stock futures were little changed Thursday morning as investors weighed the latest tariff-related news from President Donald Trump, including his new tariffs aimed at foreign automakers.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8 points, hovering just above flat. S&P 500 futures shed nearly 0.2%, while Nasdaq-100 futures dropped about 0.3%.
Trump has long discussed imposing duties on countries that have their own tariffs on U.S. imports and said on Wednesday that his retaliatory tariffs will be permanent for his entire second term.
On Wednesday evening, he announced 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States” that will go into effect on April 2. Shares of General Motors pulled back 6.5% in premarket trading following Trump’s remarks, while Stellantis shed 1.8% and Ford slipped about 0.5%.
Still, hints provided by the President this week about the upcoming April 2 levies has given investors some relief. He said Wednesday the tariffs would be “very lenient” and that he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to help further a deal with ByteDance’s TikTok. At the same time, using tariffs as a negotiating tactic, he threatened on Thursday to impose “far larger” tariffs on the European Union and Canada if they work together to combat trade tariffs.
Trump’s announcements come as investors are already anxious about how his retaliatory tariffs will affect the broader U.S. economy, which is already showing some signs of weakness. Consumer confidence, for example, reached a 12-year low in March, according to a Conference Board report, in the latest indication of broader pessimism toward the economy. The board’s measure follows a similarly weak reading of the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers for March.
Stocks took a leg lower in the previous session and and reached their intraday lows following news from the White House of the impending auto tariffs.
“[Wednesday] was a reminder that despite the recent rebound in stocks, volatility remains as policy uncertainty lingers,” said Daniel Skelly, Head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management market research and strategy team. “Moreover, next week’s tariff deadline will likely be more of a starting point for negotiations than a conclusion, so the market may struggle to recover in a straight line higher.”
The major indexes are clinging to marginal gains this week. The S&P 500 has ticked up roughly 1% alongside the Nasdaq Composite. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 1.1% so far this week.
Investors await fresh jobless claims data on Thursday and the March reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index due Friday. The PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation.
