Dow Set to Open Down as Trump Tariff Threats Hit Nvidia-Led Market Rally
U.S. stock futures were pointing to losses at the market open on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcements threatened to pour cold water on the previous day’s Nvidia-led rally.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 119 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures were falling 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures were also dropping 0.3%.
Trump announced in a letter late Wednesday that the U.S. will charge a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods starting Aug. 1. It is the highest level announced so far among the raft of letters sent to various national governments, with the White House citing legal action against Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro and U.S. tech firms as justification.
The potential pullback also comes after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a record closing high on Wednesday. That was powered by chip maker Nvidia, which became the first company in history to reach a market value of $4 trillion, beating rivals Apple and Microsoft.
“For everything else that’s happening right now, from tariffs to fiscal fears, AI is the great hope for US exceptionalism to return. The rally also got a further boost as lower bond yields meant that fears eased about the fiscal situation,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid in a research note.
The Treasury sold $39 billion of 10-year notes Wednesday afternoon with investors accepting a yield of 4.362%. That led to a rally in bonds, despite the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting suggesting officials were divided over when to start cutting interest rates.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 4.345% early on Thursday, broadly flat from the previous day.