U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Downside Amid Ongoing Tariff Threats

After ending the previous session mostly higher, stocks may move back to the downside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.2 percent.

Ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade policies may weigh on Wall Street after he suggested the U.S. would respond to the European Union’s countermeasures with even more tariffs.

With the EU saying it would impose tariffs on approximately $28 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Trump indicated the U.S. would react with reciprocal tariffs

“Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “Nobody can complain about that.”

Trump later threatened in a post on Truth Social to impose a 200 percent tariff on all wines, champagnes and alcoholic products coming out of the EU in response to a “nasty” 50 percent tariff on whisky.

The futures climbed off their worst levels following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in the month of February.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand was unchanged in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in January.

Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 3.2 percent in February from an upwardly revised 3.7 percent in January.

The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to dip to 3.3 percent from the 3.5 percent originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 8th.

After seeing considerable volatility early in the session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 regained ground after ending Tuesday’s trading at their lowest closing levels in six months.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 212.35 points or 1.2 percent to 17,648.45. The S&P 500 also climbed 27.23 points or 0.5 percent to 5,599.30, although the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and dipped 82.55 points or 0.2 percent to 41,350.93.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.31 to $67.37 a barrel after surging $1.43 to $67.68 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after jumping $25.90 to $2,946.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $7.10 to $2,953.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.16 yen versus the 148.25 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0841 compared to yesterday’s $1.0888.