MARKETS
Investing and Investments
U.S. stock futures point to a lower open on Thursday, a day after a historic surge on President Donald Trump‘s 90-day pause on some of his most aggressive tariffs.
He said he’s keeping a 10% tariff across countries, except China. He raised China’s tariff to about 125% because the Asian nation is retaliating by slapping its own tariff on U.S. goods.
At 6:10 a.m. ET, blue-chip Dow futures slipped -1.56%; broad S&P 500 futures fell -1.96%; and tech-heavy Nasdaq futures dropped -2.16%.
“The current situation is not only chaotic, it’s crazy,” said ING Economist Carsten Brzeski. “Don’t forget that we have been here before with announcements and then we get some pauses, only for the originally announced tariff to be reintroduced again. As such, caution remains warranted – and remember President Trump does need revenue to fund his promised tax cuts. It would be a surprise if…(the) announcement was really the return of ‘common sense’.”
On Wednesday, stocks surged, pushing up the S&P 500 more than 9% for its third-largest gain in a single day since World War II. The Dow posted its biggest percentage advance since March 2020, while the Nasdaq scored its biggest one-day gain since January 2001 and second-best day on record.
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About 30 billion shares changed hands, which was the highest in at least 18 years.
With tariff fears calmed for now, the market’s next test is March’s consumer price index and weekly jobless claims, both due Thursday before the opening bell.
Economists expect annual inflation up 2.6% in March, down slightly from February’s 2.8%. Annual core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, is expected to ease to 3% from a year earlier, compared to 3.1% in February.
Corporate news
- Costco posted March net sales of $25.51 billion, up 8.6% from a year ago.
- Constellation Brands issued a full-year outlook that missed analysts’ expectations despite better-than-expected results in the last three months of the year.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
