Futures Face Downward as Tariff Suspense Builds

Futures Face Downward as Tariff Suspense Builds


U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday, as the market awaited clarity from President Donald Trump regarding his tariff policy rollout. Tuesday also marks the beginning of the second-quarter after a bumpy first quarter.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slumped 242 points, or 0.6%, to 42,017

Futures for the S&P 500 index dropped 31 points, or 0.6%, to 5,622.25.

Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ declined 107.75 points, or 0.6%, to 19,331.75.

The White House on Wednesday is expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs on goods from virtually all countries. Investors had been hoping for a narrow approach toward administering the levies.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is considering implementing tariffs of about 20% to most imports into the U.S. To be sure, the report — which cited three sources familiar with the matter — noted that no final decision had been made.

The uncertainty has put stocks on a rollercoaster ride. The S&P 500 on Monday touched a six-month low before recovering. For the first quarter, the index lost 4.6%, while the NASDAQ Composite dropped 10%. That marked the worst quarterly performance for both benchmarks since 2022. The Dow dropped 1.3% during the first three months of the year.

On Tuesday, traders will watch out for the ISM manufacturing index for March alongside February’s job openings and construction spending reports.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was flat Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.4%

Oil prices shed 10 cents to $71.38 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gained $10.70 to $3,161 U.S. an ounce.

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