5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday
- Dow futures dropped nearly 400 points the day after stocks staged a massive rebound.
- The White House announced a one-month delay on tariffs for automakers.
- Macy’s reported mixed results for the fourth quarter.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Recovery rally
Stocks avoided a third-straight day of losses Wednesday after President Donald Trump raised investors’ hopes for more exemptions to his broad tariffs. The three major averages staged a massive rebound, with the S&P 500 surging 1.12% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.46%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, closed up 485.60 points, or 1.14%, after sinking more than 1,300 points over the last two sessions. But stock futures were lower Thursday morning, with the Dow dropping nearly 400 points as the market’s volatile week continues. Follow live market updates.
2. Pumping the brakes
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the Capitol building’s House chamber in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2025.
The White House announced a one-month delay on tariffs for automakers Wednesday, a day after President Trump spoke with the heads of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis. The temporary exemption covers “any autos coming through” the trilateral trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, known as the USMCA. Trump “is open” to additional exemptions to his broad tariffs, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday, but she said there will be no exemptions to the reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.
3. Job jitters
A pedestrian walks by a ‘hiring now’ sign in front of a U-Haul store on December 03, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
Private companies added just 77,000 new workers in February — far below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 148,000 — payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. The figure was also far lower than the upwardly revised 186,000 jobs in January and marked the smallest increase since July. The report reflected investors’ fears that President Trump’s tariff policy could raise prices and slow growth, potentially leading to stagflation. A sector that combines trade, transportation and utility jobs lost 33,000 positions, according to the report. The ADP data comes ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls report.
4. Double agents
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, U.S., February 26, 2025.
Both Meta and Amazon on Wednesday announced plans to develop software for artificial intelligence agents, the latest trend in generative AI. Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said Wednesday that the company’s upcoming Llama 4 AI software will power such agents — which are typically defined by their ability to carry out multistep tasks, rather than just respond to written prompts. Amazon, meanwhile, is forming a unit that would build software for working with AI agents.
5. Mixed for Macy’s
Macy’s on Thursday reported mixed results for the fourth quarter, beating earnings expectations but coming up short on revenue as the retailer’s turnaround plan takes shape. Comparable sales for the company’s “First 50” locations — the stores where Macy’s is devoting more resources as part of its turnaround strategy — outperformed the overall business. But the department store issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for fiscal 2025 and faces yet another activist investor looking to take it private. Two other retail names are also set to report earnings today: Costco and Gap will release results after the bell.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han, Pia Singh, Spencer Kimball, Kevin Breuninger, Jesse Pound, Michael Wayland, Jeff Cox, Jonathan Vanian, Jordan Novet and Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.