US stock futures slid on Tuesday as investors weighed Canada and China’s response to President Donald Trump’s delivery of new tariffs, amid nerves over the prospect of a deepening trade war.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) dropped 0.5%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) shed 0.6%, as all three indexes took a leg lower.
Rising fears of a full-on trade war drove a sell-off in stocks on Monday after the president said there was “no room left” for Canada or Mexico to strike a deal to mitigate promised tariffs.
Stocks are retreating as markets assess the likely impact of Trump’s broad tariffs on America’s top trading partners. The measures — fresh 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and a doubling in China duties to 20% — were signed into effect at midnight ET on Tuesday.
Target (TGT)warned that tariffs will put pressure on first quarter profit as it delivered an earnings beat before the bell. The retail giant’s stock was little changed in early trading. Meanwhile, its sector peer Best Buy(BBY) put out a muted annual sales forecast alongside its own quarterly beat. The additional sign of consumer caution helped send its shares lower.
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US yield curve gets steeper as tariffs put growth at risk
The risk to global growth from Trump’s tariffs is rattling bond investors, who appear increasingly convinced that the president is no longer just making threats as a precursor to a deal.
Traders also ramped up bets on the Federal Reserve making more interest-rate cuts than previously expected.
Shares of Okta jumped in premarket trading Tuesday after the identity and cybersecurity company reported solid sales, earnings, and 2025 profit guidance.
All three metrics beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates as the company benefitted from increased corporate spending on cybersecurity protection amid the AI boom.
Okta stock rose 14% Tuesday morning and was a trending ticker on Yahoo Finance.
“This is a blowout quarter,” Okta co-founder and CEO Todd McKinnon told Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi in an Opening Bid podcast exclusive. “It’s reflective of big deals in the quarter,” McKinnon said, pointing to a 25% surge in subscription backlog to more than $4 billion.
And while the earnings beat will quickly grab your eyes, it’s more important to lock in on this line from the release given all the risk around tariffs:
“In light of ongoing consumer uncertainty and a small decline in February net sales, combined with tariff uncertainty and the expected timing of certain costs within the fiscal year, the company expects to see meaningful year-over-year profit pressure in its first quarter relative to the remainder of the year,” Target said.
Target declined to share specific first quarter earnings guidance. Yahoo Finance data shows Wall Street analysts were looking for a slight first quarter year-on-year earnings improvement.
Today at 11:36 AM UTC
Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
Today at 10:19 AM UTC
Xi leaves door open for talks with Trump
China’s tit-for-tat move to Trump was to slap tariffs of up to 15% on US farm goods such as pork and beef, starting next week. That’s going down generally well on Wall Street, which sees the targeted action as designed to avoid escalating a trade war between the world’s top two economies.
