Stock futures even Thursday amid trade war and looming government shutdown
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City.
(NEW YORK) — Stocks futures were again showing jitters early Thursday, after a reprieve for the S&P and NASDAQ on Wednesday amid President Donald Trump’s trade war.
A back-and-forth over international tariffs is hanging over the U.S. economy, along with a looming government shutdown with a deadline on Friday.
Dow futures evened out ahead of Thursday’s open, after earlier trading down about 0.3%.
Federal officials said Wednesday that consumer prices climbed 2.8% in February over the same year-earlier month, meaning inflation cooled more than economists expected.
After initially modest gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on Wednesday down about 0.2%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked increased 1.2%.
Markets may look on Thursday to a smaller inflation report called the Produce Price Index, which is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, along with weekly jobless claims, for an indication of the health of the larger economy.
Still, its news out of Washington that is likely to have the biggest impact on the direction of stocks.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a one-month delay of tariffs on some products from Mexico.
The temporary exemption will lift tariffs for all Mexican goods compliant with United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, a free trade agreement.
The announcement came after a conversation between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump said.
“Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Minutes later, Sheinbaum reciprocated in similar fashion.
“We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, within the framework of respect for our sovereignties,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Trump made the announcement soon after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a one-month delay of tariffs on Mexico and Canada would likely apply to all products compliant with the USMCA.
Trump negotiated the USMCA during his first term, signing the agreement with Canada and Mexico in 2018.
“That which is part of President Trump’s deal with Canada and Mexico [is] likely to get an exemption from these tariffs,” Lutnick told CNBC on Thursday morning.
Despite the effort to ease some tariffs, stocks dropped on Thursday as fallout from the policy continued to roil markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 400 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq sunk 2%.
The selloff erased some of the market gains delivered a day earlier after President Donald Trump gave U.S. automakers a one-month reprieve from the tariffs. Duties on a host of other goods remained in place, however.
The U.S. earlier this week slapped 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% tariffs on imports from China. The fresh round of duties on Chinese goods doubled an initial set of tariffs placed on China last month.
The one-month delay in auto tariffs triggered a rally for shares of U.S. carmakers on Wednesday, but the largest companies in the sector turned down in early trading on Thursday.
Shares of Ford dropped 1.5%, while General Motors fell nearly 3%. Stellantis — the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep — saw its stock price fall 2%.
Tesla, the electric carmaker led by Elon Musk, tumbled 4.5% on Thursday.
The tariffs are expected to pose a challenge for U.S. automakers, many of which depend on a supply chain closely intertwined with Mexico and Canada.
The American Automotive Policy Council, or AAPC, a trade group that represents Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, praised the one-month tariff exemption.
“American Automakers Ford, GM and Stellantis applaud President Trump for recognizing that vehicles and parts that meet the high US and regional USMCA content requirements should be exempt from these tariffs,” AAPC President Matt Blunt told ABC News in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Since Elon Musk went to Washington, D.C., to slash the government alongside President Donald Trump, the stock of his electric car company Tesla has taken a significant hit, tumbling nearly 48% this year. During an interview this week, Musk addressed the difficulties.
“You’re giving up your other stuff,” Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow asked Musk during an interview. “How are you running your other businesses?”
“With great difficulty,” Musk replied with a sigh.
On Monday, Tesla stock closed down 15% after its worst trading day in five years. Stock in the company has dropped every week since Musk went to Washington, wiping out more than $700 billion in market value. And Musk’s personal net worth has dropped $148 billion since Inauguration Day, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
But it’s not just Musk who is taking a hit. The stock plunge has caused outrage among some shareholders, who have publicly questioned Musk’s commitment to his electric vehicle company or called on the Tesla board to replace him.
Another group that’s now sounding the alarm: pension fund managers.
“This is a real cost to real people,” Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs told ABC News. “We’re talking about firefighters, police officers, nurses who work in public. Their retirement dollars are at stake.”
Frerichs, a Democrat, said he believes the drop in stock is due to Musk’s work leading the governmental cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. It’s deeply political work, Frerichs says, that’s driving half the country away from buying his cars.
“Michael Jordan was famous here for not being involved in Democrat politics, because, as he said, even Republicans buy sneakers, and he knew he didn’t want to lose those customers,” Frerichs said.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees approximately $1.2 billion in Tesla stock through the city’s pension funds, echoed that sentiment.
“There’s no real leadership. It is at the bottom of his list. And so we have not had at Tesla a CEO focused on selling EVs, on growing the company, on making money and returns for shareholders,” Lander told ABC News.
Lander, a Democrat who is running for mayor in New York City, said he still has faith in the Tesla stock — but that it won’t be endless.
“But look, if they can’t count on this stock, you know, and we have to look elsewhere in the marketplace, that’s how this works,” Lander said.
Tesla representatives did not reply to a request for comment from ABC News
Its not just Democrats who have called for answers from Musk. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy — who supported Trump in the 2024 election — said he had to “raise his eyebrows” as a stockholder himself.
“I like DOGE, I like what they’re doing,” Portnoy said in an interview on Fox Business last month. “But let me tell you this. If you are going to send out — and you got to call it both ways — if you are going to send emails to federal workers and say, ‘What have you done for the last five days,’ I think Tesla shareholders are entitled to ask their CEO, Elon Musk, ‘What have you done for Tesla the last five days?'”
“Seemingly all he cares about right now is DOGE,” Portnoy said. “Now, could it be coincidence the stock is down 25% since he really started this? I guess. But I think it’s fair as a shareholder of Tesla to say, ‘What are you doing for shareholders?'”
Some who are critical of Musk’s role in cutting the federal workforce have targeted Tesla, vandalizing vehicles and protesting at dealerships around the country.
“We’re here today rallying against Elon and what he’s done,” one Florida protester, Jeff Finkelstein, told a local news outlet. “Ever since Trump’s been in, it’s been more about Musk than Trump and we’re just showing our frustration.”
In Massachusetts, police asked the public for help after a suspect allegedly vandalized Teslas with images of Musk. The suspect, when confronted, said he had a right to do so because it’s his “free speech,” according to a social media post.
Musk himself replied to the post, writing, “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!”
(NEW YORK) — U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher on Tuesday, following Monday’s major selloff as markets digested President Donald Trump’s comments that there would be a “period of transition” as the economy adjusted to a global trade war.
Dow futures traded up 156 points, or about 0.36%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down about 2% on Monday, while the S&P 500 declined 2.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 4%, which amounted to more than $1 trillion in losses, according to Bloomberg.
Asian stocks, which opened sharply lower on Tuesday, following the U.S. selloff, recovered some ground. And European stocks were trading mixed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected Tuesday morning to release a report on how many jobs are open in the economy, which could provide another clue about the strength of economy amid the new recession concerns. An inflation report is expected Wednesday.
The main driver of the recent declines appears to be America’s trade war, with investors watching the administration’s latest plans on trade and tariffs. The selloff coincided with retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. following levies last week on Canada, Mexico and China, some of which were delayed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
