US pre-open: Futures drop ahead of bank earnings as trade tensions mount
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - US stock futures were pointing to sharp falls on Wall Street ahead of the opening bell as volatile swings in US-China trade relations were continuing to dominate market sentiment ahead of a barrage of earnings from the banking sector.
By 0451 ET, futures on the Dow were pointing 0.5% down, the S&P 500 was trading 0.9% lower while the Nasdaq slumped 1.1%.
After threatening to slap higher tariffs on Chinese imports on Friday - which sparked the biggest one-day sell-off on Wall Street in six months - Donald Trump has since attempted to assuage concerns, saying "All will be fine [...] The USA wants to help China, not hurt it."
However, new measures imposed by Beijing - including restrictions on five US subsidiaries of South Korea's Hanwha Ocean following Washington's probes into the Chinese shipping industry - will have only re-escalated the spat.
"President Trump's more conciliatory tone over the weekend hinted at a willingness to avoid the looming 100% tariffs, but Beijing's response has underscored its determination to assert leverage in negotiations. Rare earths remain the key battleground, with China signalling its readiness to weaponise its dominance in the sector if talks falter," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Meanwhile, a scheduled speech from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at the National Association for Business Economics annual meeting in Philadelphia was being closely watched. Market participants are attempting to predict the central bank's next move amid a dearth of economic data as the government shutdown drags on.
Banking stocks were in focus ahead of the latest quarterly results from heavyweights JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo due out on Tuesday.
Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were also due to report their own figures on Wednesday.
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