US pre-open: Futures lower following back-to-back winning sessions
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 24 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Thursday as traders awaited further updates on trade talks between the White House and Beijing.
As of 1240 BST, Dow futures were down 0.39%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.21% and 0.23% weaker, respectively.
The Dow closed 419.59 points higher on Wednesday after Donald Trump revealed he did not intend to try to oust "major loser" Jerome Powell from his role as Federal Reserve chairman and that he would play "very nice" with China.
Stocks traded higher in the previous session on hopes that trade tensions between the US and China were cooling, with Trump vowing to take a less confrontational stance toward Beijing and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the US had the "opportunity for a big deal" on trade.
However, futures headed south before the open on Thursday as China said overnight that there were no trade talks taking place with the US, and stated that in order for any talks to commence, the Trump administration would have to cancel all "unilateral" tariffs.
Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Investors put two and two together, and the sell-off across US stock index futures accelerated. So, there's no end to the uncertainty which has dogged financial markets since Mr Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement at the beginning of this month. But this is simply a measure of the underlying damage being done to US businesses, large and small, as they struggle to make plans beyond the next couple of months, let alone a few years. The longer they have to deal with this lack of clarity, the more destructive the end result. This is all a far cry from the enthusiasm expressed after the Trump election victory in early November. Back then, equities soared as investors looked forward to the tax cuts and deregulation promised by a president who really understood business. What a change."
On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's March national activity index will be published at 1330 BST, as will March durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims data from the Labour Department, while March existing home sales will follow at 1500 BST.
In the corporate space, Alphabet, Intel and PepsiCo were all slated to report their latest quarterly figures on Thursday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN