US pre-open: Dow futures trade higher as Trump makes auto tariff concession
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 29 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Tuesday after Donald Trump made yet another tariff concession, this time concerning certain foreign parts used to make cars domestically.
As of 1235 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.38%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.04% and 0.09% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed 114.09 points higher on Monday after a volatile session saw the blue-chip swing between a 240-point loss and a 300-point gain.
The White House confirmed overnight that the Trump administration had decided that auto tariffs would not stretch to steel and aluminium imports, easing certain sector-specific fears and pushing shares in US-based carmakers higher in pre-market trading.
Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "US stock indices are having a better end to the month when compared to the first half. The slump in equities which followed President Trump's announcement of reciprocal tariffs on 'Liberation Day' 2 April, may be remembered for some time, at least until there's some form of resolution. But, as happened with tariffs during Mr Trump's first term as president, his tariff threats have already been watered down to some extent. Trump's various rollbacks have led to a resurgence in risk appetite which has helped to lift all the US majors off very oversold levels.
"For now, risk appetite remains intact, but markets still feel a touch fragile. In Washington DC, Treasury Secretary Bessent stated China is 'on hold' for now as the US continues tariff talks with 15 to 17 other trading partners. The onus, Bessent said, is on Beijing to take the next step."
On the macro front, a preliminary reading of March's goods trade balance will be released at 1330 BST, as will preliminary wholesale inventories numbers for last month, while S&P Case-Shiller's February home price index will be published at 1400 BST, and April consumer confidence data and March's JOLTS job openings report will follow at 1500 BST.
In the corporate space, General Motors beat quarterly profit expectations but withdrew its FY guidance as a result of tariff uncertainty and suspended further stock buybacks as it looks to deal with cost increases associated with said levies, while Coca-Cola beat on both earnings and revenue estimates and said the effects of the current global trade spat to be "manageable".
Market participants were also patiently awaiting quarterly earnings reports from several big-tech firms, with Meta Platforms and Microsoft slated to report on Wednesday, while Apple and Amazon were scheduled to release their latest quarterly numbers on Thursday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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