U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday after advancing for two consecutive days. Futures of major benchmark indices rose in premarket trading. On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump signed an order increasing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%, with the UK being the sole trading partner exempted from this hike.
This latest action intensifies ongoing trade disputes between the U.S. and major partners like China and the EU. The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.47%, and the two-year bond was at 3.96%. The CME Group’s FedWatch projections show markets pricing a 98.7% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its June meeting.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.18% at $597.17, while the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF, tracking the Nasdaq 100 index, advanced 0.16% to $528.17 in premarket trading. U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, led by gains in the energy, materials, and information technology sectors. However, communication services and real estate stocks finished in the red.
Nvidia Corp. shares soared approximately 3%. Dollar General Corp.
shares skyrocketed about 16% after the company announced stronger-than-anticipated first-quarter earnings and boosted its full-year forecast. Signet Jewelers Ltd. shares climbed more than 12% following better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and an upward revision of its FY26 guidance.
On the economic data front, U.S. job openings grew by 191,000 to 7.391 million in April, surpassing market expectations of 7.10 million. New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods fell 3.7% month-over-month to $594.6 billion in April, compared to a 3.4% increase in March. The Dow Jones index ended 214 points or 0.51% higher at 42,519.64, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.58% to 5,970.37.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.81% to 19,398.96, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, gained 1.59% to end at 2,102.98. Market analysts cautioned that President Trump’s erratic trade policies are encouraging short sellers anticipating daily market drops. The host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” stated that Trump’s tariff threats and aggressive global stance are rendering accurate stock pricing almost unachievable.
He explained that in such a situation, investors would rather be short, expecting the market to decline daily. Analysts at BlackRock noted in their weekly report that they have flipped back to being pro-risk.
u.s. tariffs impact stock futures
They pointed out that economic rules limit how far U.S. policy can deviate from the status quo, and the supply chain reconfigurations would result in serious disruptions. This overweight is grounded in the artificial intelligence mega force – reinforced by Nvidia’s earnings beat last week. Investors will keep an eye on the following on Wednesday:
– May’s ADP employment data at 8:15 a.m. ET.
– May’s S&P final U.S. services PMI at 9:45 a.m. ET. – ISM services data at 10:00 a.m. ET. – Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Federal Reserve Governor speaking at the Fed Listens event at 10:15 a.m. ET.
– Fed Beige Book at 2:00 p.m. ET. Dollar Tree Inc. rose 1.84% in premarket trading as analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of $1.20 per share on revenue of $4.54 billion.
Thor Industries Inc. fell 0.19% ahead of its earnings, with expected earnings of $1.76 per share on revenue of $2.61 billion. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co.
advanced 5.14% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Kosmos Energy Ltd. gained 1.10% after signing a memorandum of understanding with other firms to extend Ghana production licenses to 2040.
Mastercard Inc. was up 0.081%, and PayPal Holdings Inc. rose 0.38% after partnering on Mastercard One Credential to allow consumers to choose their payment method at checkout.
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.52%, hovering around $63.08 per barrel. Gold rose 0.26% to around $3,362.08 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was lower by 0.16% at 99.0700.
Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with India’s S&P BSE Sensex, Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, Australia’s ASX 200, China’s CSI 300, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices all rising. European markets were also higher in early trade.