Futures Point To Lower Open For Wall Street

Trump’s tariff policy might continue to influence investor sentiments on Thursday. Markets might be keen on the Weekly Jobless claims, as well as Fed speeches.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading broadly lower.

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 385.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 64.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 287.00 points.

The U.S. major averages closed Wednesday with strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 267.57 points or 1.5 percent to 18,552.73, the S&P 500 shot up 64.48 points or 1.1 percent to 5,842.63 and the Dow jumped 485.60 points or 1.1 percent to 43,006.59.

On the economic front, the International Trade in Goods and Services for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $123 billion, while the deficit in the prior month was $98.4 billion.

The Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for initial claims is 244K, while it was up 242K in the previous week.

The Productivity and Costs for the fourth quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.2 percent, while it was up 1.2 percent in the third quarter.

The Wholesale Inventories (Preliminary) for January is expected at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the flash inventories were up 0.7 percent, while in the prior month it was down 0.5 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 261 bcf.

Four-week and 8-week Treasury bill auction will be held at 11.30 am ET.

The Fed Balance sheet for the week will be announced at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.766 trillion.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will speak on “Economic Education” before the National Association of Economic Educators 2025 Spring Professional Development Conference at 8.45 am ET.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller will speak on the economic outlook before the Wall Street Journal CFO Network Summit at 3.30 pm ET.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will participates in conversation on the economic outlook with some focus on the Birmingham region at 7 pm ET.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday after U.S. President Donald exempted automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, raising hopes for negotiations.

The U.S. dollar declined ahead of key U.S. jobs data due on Friday and gold was slightly lower while oil prices rebounded after four straight sessions of losses on demand and oversupply concerns.

China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 1.17 percent to 3,381.10 after Beijing pledged policy support for tech and consumption.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 3.29 percent to 24,369.71 ahead of the release of Chinese trade data on Friday.

Alibaba Group Holding shares soared 8.4 percent after the company announced a model that it claims provides DeepSeek-level performance with far less data. The company also said the model is more energy and cost efficient.

Japanese markets advanced as U.S. tariff worries receded. The Nikkei average jumped 0.77 percent to 37,704.93 while the broader Topix index settled 1.22 percent higher at 2,751.41.

Among the prominent gainers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries soared 10.8 percent and IHI Corp gained 2.6 percent. Sony surged 4 percent, Nissan Motor rose 1.1 percent and Honda Motor climbed 2 percent, driven by yen weakness.

Seoul stocks rose notably as government data showed South Korea’s consumer inflation softened in February for the first time in four months. The Kospi average climbed 0.70 percent to 2,576.16.

Defense-related stocks surged, with Hyundai Rotem rising 1.6 percent and LIG Nex1 rallying 5.8 percent after European governments such as Denmark and the U.K. announced boosts to defense spending.

Australian markets ended lower, dragged down by energy, technology and consumer stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.57 percent to 8,094.70 as trade balance figures for January lagged forecasts. The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 0.44 percent at 8,326.40.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.14 percent to 12,428.84.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight after reports emerged that President Donald Trump was considering a one-month delay of auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

The White House later confirmed the exemption for automakers and said Trump was open to providing additional tariff exemptions.

A slew of economic data painted a mixed picture of the economy, with private payrolls increasing in February at the slowest pace in seven months while new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rebounded in January amid a surge in commercial aircraft bookings.

There was an unexpected rise in growth in the services sector in February, but signs of increased input prices tempered optimism.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow both rose about 1.1 percent.

European shares are trading mostly down. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is falling 37.26 points or 0.46 percent. The German DAX is progressing 80.51 points or 0.35 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is declining 83.06 points or 0.95 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is falling 157.63 points or 1.20 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.22 percent.

Business News