US stock futures higher after Trump strikes trade deal with EU

U.S. stock futures are higher after President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with the European Union ahead of an Aug 1 deadline.

The deal includes a 15% tariff on most European goods entering the U.S., similar to agreements struck recently between Trump and other major trading partners, including Japan. The levy is higher than the 10% rate sought by Europeans but less than the 30% Trump threatened earlier in July. Pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminum aren’t included in the tariff deal.

Additionally, the EU will invest $600 billion in the U.S. and buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy, Trump said.

“More adverse scenarios seem to have been avoided, for now, and this is excellent news but whether everything will now be ‘big and huge’ still remains to be seen,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro for Dutch bank ING.

At 6 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.17%, while broad S&P 500 futures added 0.26% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.45%.

Separately, the U.S. and China are expected to extend their tariff truce by another three months, the South China Morning Post reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng plan to have talks in Stockholm.

Busy week ahead

With a trade deal with the U.S.’ largest trading partner easing tariff fears, investors will turn to earnings and the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting for more direction.

More so-called Magnificient Seven influential megacap technolgy companies are due to report quarterly results. They include Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft. Amazon and Apple.

With about 30% of S&P 500 companies having reported results, overall quarterly earnings are on track for a 7.7% increase from a year ago, according to LSEG IBES. That’s higher than the July 1 forecast for a 5.8% increase.

Meanwhile, virtually no one expects the Fed to lower rates this week but investors will look for clues on when it might. The Fed has said with the economy showing resiliency, it would wait to see how Trump’s tariffs play out before moving rates.

At the end of the week, after the Fed’s meeting, investors will see more inflation data and the key monthly jobs report to see if the labor market continues to hold up despite the Trump’s back-and-forth tariff barbs over the past few months.

Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures higher after Trump EU trade deal