Dow Set to Open Up as Market Digests Trump Tariffs
Stocks looked set to rise on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on scores of nations finally took hold.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 200 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.6% and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were rising 0.7%.
The three blue-chip indexes closed the previous session in the green after Trump announced a roughly 100% tariff on semiconductors, but said companies that are pouring money into U.S. manufacturing such as Apple would be exempt from the levies. The iPhone maker said Wednesday that it would significantly accelerate its investment in the U.S., which now totals $600 billion over the next four years.
“Tech stocks have continued to drive a buoyant mood in markets,” Deutsche Bank analyst Peter Sidorov said. “The upbeat tone has continued overnight despite Trump outlining a plan for 100% tariffs on semiconductors, with the impact of these mitigated by carveouts.”
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed 2 basis points to 4.25% in early trading. The dollar was down 0.1% against a weighted basket of its peers.
Trump’s reciprocal levies also came into effect just after midnight. In a post on his social-media platform Truth Social, the president said that “billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into the United States of America.”
That ought to put one source of market uncertainty to bed, although the U.S. is still negotiating to thrash out a separate trade pact with China.
Still, jitters about the U.S. economy are building. While second-quarter earnings have looked solid, last week’s dismal nonfarm report sparked worries about the health of the labor market, making Thursday’s initial jobless claims numbers a potential market mover.
Pharmaceuticals giant Eli Lilly and entertainment company Warner Bros. Discovery are among the companies set to post their results ahead of the opening bell. The U.K.’s Bank of England is set to announce its latest interest-rate decision this morning, too.