US stock futures slumped on Tuesday after China upped the ante in its trade spat with the US, rattling investors’ nerves as big Wall Street’s banks kicked off earnings season.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) slid roughly 0.6%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) dropped 1%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) sank over 1.4% to lead the retreat.
The mood has soured after stocks’ strong rebound on Monday thanks to a fresh round of retaliation from Beijing to President Trump’s trade salvos. Its latest moves to target US shipping have undermined recently revived hopes that the US and China will avoid an all-out trade war.
China has placed sanctions on five US-linked units of South Korean shipbuilding firm Hanwha Ocean, effectively barring Chinese companies from doing business with them. Both sides have already used special port fees to try to get the upper hand in maritime shipping.
Focus is now turning to the third quarter earnings season, which kicked off in earnest on Tuesday morning with results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC). JPMorgan impressed out of the gate, boosted by a flurry of Wall Street dealmaking. CEO Jamie Dimon said the US economy “remained resilient” in the quarter but warned of various potential headwinds.
With key economic reports stalled by the government shutdown, investors and the Fed lack a clear view of the economy’s direction. The release of the September CPI consumer inflation report scheduled for Wednesday has been delayed to Oct. 24. Data on retail sales and producer prices are also expected to be pushed back.
The blackout of economic reports puts added weight on Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Tuesday at the NABE annual meeting, expected to provide insights into the Fed’s view of the economy and its thinking on monetary policy.
LIVE 10 updates
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Tariff tensions separate gold from crypto
Even as the White House calmed the rolling boil of China tensions down to a simmer on Monday, one asset remained scorching — gold (GC=F).
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban digs into what fueled this week’s rally in the precious metal:
Read more here in today’s takeaway from Morning Brief.
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Wells Fargo boosts key profitability metric as asset cap removed
Wells Fargo (WFC) posted third quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations on Tuesday, lifting the stock over 2% in premarket trading.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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Wall Street bonanza boosts profits at JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) stock edged lower after the major US bank reported that its profits climbed in the third quarter.
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports:
Read more here.
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BlackRock hauls in $205B as private assets accelerate
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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Critical mineral stocks soar in Australia as US hunts stakes
Australian miners with critical minerals projects made dizzying stock gains on Tuesday, amid signs of US interest in taking stakes. The moves come as an intensification in US-China trade tensions raises concern that Beijing will further curb access to its rare earths, key to production of US technology.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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From oil to the dollar: How US-China trade tensions are affecting markets
The latest trade tensions between the US and China has rattled markets. Here’s a list of all the assets affected by the latest tariff turmoil.
Currencies: The dollar (DX=F) fluctuated on Tuesday following China’s response to the US on tariffs. Risk sentiment fell as investors moved towards traditional safe havens such as the yen and Swiss franc.
Crypto: Cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ether (ETH-USD) continued to fall on Tuesday. With the largest crypto asset, bitcoin dropping almost 3% to $111,950, while ether slumped 4% falling below $4,000 to $3,992. The crypto market shed $150 billion due to US-China trade tensions.
Oil: Brent crude futures (BZ=F) fell 2% to $61.93 and US West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) also dropped 2% to $58.15 at 08:58 GMT, reversing earlier gains amid uncertainty around US-China trade relations.
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Ericsson shares rise as company shrugs off US tariffs
Ericsson’s (ERIC) shares surged by 14% on Tuesday after the Swedish telecommunications company beat forecasts for its quarterly earnings growth and also shrugged off US tariffs.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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Crypto market sheds $150 billion as China hits back at US
Bitcoin (BTC-USD), ether (ETH-USD) and other cryptocurrencies are continuing to slide, building on a sharp selloff at the weekend that was triggered by a historic round of liquidations.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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Silver reaches all-time high after London liquidity concerns
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
