US pre-open: Futures lower as traders await tariff updates
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 01 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday as investors digested a report from the Washington Post that the White House was looking to institute 20% tariffs on most imports.
As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.31%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.24% and 0.15% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed 417.86 points higher on Monday, taking a decent bite out of losses recorded in the previous session and wrapping up a disappointing Q1 on a high.
Traders continued to look ahead to Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcements on Wednesday, with the White House expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs on goods from virtually all countries, rather than just the 10-15 with trade imbalances with the US.
Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Usually, after a disappointing first quarter, investors look forward to better opportunities ahead. But that doesn't appear to be the case now. Instead, there's one word which comes up repeatedly when attempting to describe the current trading environment, and that is: uncertain. And the reason for that uncertainty is, of course, Trump's tariffs.
"President Trump has promised 'retaliatory' tariffs on all US trading partners, along with a 25% levy on US car imports, starting tomorrow, or 'Liberation Day' if you're a member of the Trump Administration. The trouble is that there have been so many contradictory statements about what this may mean, that markets can't handicap the outcomes. It seems increasingly plausible that Trump and his administration are also undecided. That means that trading the outcome is seat of the pants stuff and somewhat foolhardy."
On the macro front, S&P Global's March manufacturing PMI will be out at 1445 BST, while the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI will follow at 1500 BST, as will February construction spending numbers and February's JOLTS jobs report.
In the corporate space, Calvin Klein parent company PVH traded higher on the back of a Q4 earnings and revenue beat, while Johnson & Johnson shares headed south after a Houston judge threw out a $10.0bn proposal to settle tens of thousands of suits that allege its talc products cause ovarian cancer.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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