Stock market today: Wall Street falls early with Trump's “Liberation Day” now a day away

Wall Street pointed toward losses early Tuesday, one day before President
Donald Trump
rolls out his “
Liberation Day
” tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%. Nasdaq futures also headed 0.5% lower.

Gold
rose to over $3,170.00 per ounce early Tuesday before falling back slightly. Gold is hitting all-time highs as
investors seek a save place to park their money
with markets destabilized by Trump’s tariff threats.

On Wednesday, the United States is set to begin what Trump calls “
reciprocal
” tariffs. Yet little is known about exactly who will be targeted and what the tariff scheme will be.

Trump’s tariffs threats have been agitating markets for months, and Monday was no exception, with markets swinging wildly.

Such neck-twisting turns have become routine for the U.S. stock market because of uncertainty about
tariffs
and how much they will worsen
inflation
and grind down
growth
for economies.

Even if Trump’s tariffs end up being less harsh than feared, the lack of clarity may already be leading U.S.
households
and businesses to
freeze their spending
.

In equities trading, Johnson & Johnson slid 3.5% after a U.S.
bankruptcy court judge denied the company’s settlement plan
related to baby powder containing talc. It’s the third time the company’s attempt to resolve the baby powder settlement through bankruptcy has been rejected by courts.

Shares of PVH Corp., the clothing company formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen, climbed 16% before the bell after it beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter sales and profit targets. PVH, which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, also gave a strong forecast for 2025.

Also early on Tuesday, the government releases figures on job openings for February. It’s a big week for labor market reports, with the weekly layoffs report coming Thursday and the March jobs report set for Friday.

European markets showed strong gains after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers that the world’s biggest trade bloc
would not cower
to U.S. trade demands.

“Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market. But this strength is also built on our readiness to take firm counter measures if necessary. All instruments are on the table,” von der Leyen said.

In Europe at midday Germany’s DAX jumped 0.8%, while the CAC 40 in Paris and Britain’s FTSE 100 both gained 0.5%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged at 35,624.48, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was imploring Trump to not impose higher
auto tariffs
on Japan, a longtime U.S. ally. A
central bank survey
found a worsening in business sentiment among big manufacturers.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 23,173.75, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4% to 3,348.44.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6% to 2,525.44, while the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 7,925.20.

Taiwan’s Taiex shot up 2.8%, while the Sensex in India lost 0.2%. Bangkok’s SET advanced 1.1%.