US pre-open: Futures higher as Trump softens stance on China and Powell
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 23 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell 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 said Chinese tariffs would "come down substantially".
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 1.89%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 2.54% and 2.95% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 1,040.52 points higher on Tuesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session as news broke that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said there "will be a de-escalation" in the White House's trade war with China.
"No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable," he said. However, Bessent also stated that if America was to walk out the door of negotiations and sign "something in two or three years that looked like that", he reckons that could be considered "a huge win".
Trump also softened his stance on Beijing, admitting that the current 145% tariff on Chinese imports was "very high" and that it "won't be that high". "No, it won't be anywhere near that high. It'll come down substantially. But it won't be zero," he said.
Additionally, futures got a boost after Trump said late on Tuesday that he has "no intention" of firing Powell, whose term will end in May 2026, despite stating the chairman's "termination cannot come fast enough" just a day earlier.
On Wednesday's macro slate, mortgage applications slumped 12.7% in the week ended 18 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the sharpest decline since October 2024. Applications to purchase a home were down 7%, while applications to refinance a mortgage fell 20% week-on-week.
Still to come, a preliminary reading of S&P Global's April services, manufacturing and composite PMIs will be out at 1445 BST, while March new home sales figures will follow at 1500 BST.
In the corporate space, Tesla reported quarterly earnings that missed expectations on both the top and the bottom line after the close of trading, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.27 on revenues of $19.34bn, short of analyst estimates of $0.34 per share and $21.11bn.
Philip Morris, IBM, AT&T, Boeing and Chipotle were slated to report earnings on Wednesday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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