Wall Street futures rise, awaiting april 2 tariffs
March 25, 2025
Linea Mercati Interview 3/26/25
March 27, 2025By Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian
March 26, 202510:32 AM EDTUpdated 3 min ago
The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
- Summary
- Companies
- Indexes: Dow up 0.33%, S&P 500 down 0.34%, Nasdaq down 1.5%
- Dollar Tree up on sale of Family Dollar business
- GameStop climbs on bitcoin bet, higher Q4 profit
- Barclays cuts S&P 500 2025 target
March 26 (Reuters) – The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined in choppy trading on Wednesday, with investors exercising caution as they awaited economic data and clarity on the Trump administration’s fresh tariffs that are expected to take effect next week.
U.S. equities experienced a brief reprieve over the last two sessions, following President Donald Trump’s indication that not all tariffs would be enforced by the April 2 deadline, with certain nations potentially being granted exemptions—though specifics remain elusive.
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This offered a semblance of stability to Wall Street, with the trio of major indexes touching two week highs earlier in the week. The S&P has ascended over 4% since its mid-March lows, while the Nasdaq has advanced roughly 6%.
Nevertheless, ambiguity surrounding the magnitude of U.S. tariffs, the likelihood of retaliatory measures from trading partners, and the potential repercussions on the global economy and businesses have kept investors vigilant.
Adding to the unease, Barclays revised its S&P 500 target downward to 5,900 points from 6,600 due to uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs.
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“The market is now on hold. (Trump’s softened tariff stance) seems to have made a temporary relief,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
Investors “are going to be sensitive to tariffs … the White House keeps changing its position, creating uncertainty.”
At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 141.30 points, or 0.33%, to 42,728.80, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab lost 19.38 points, or 0.34%, to 5,757.73 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab lost 179.23 points, or 0.98%, to 18,092.63.
The S&P 500 was weighed down by heavy-weight growth stocks. Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab fell 3.2%, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab dropped 3.5% and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab declined 1.5%.
On the other hand, an index that assigns an equal weight to all companies on the benchmark index (.SPXEW), opens new tab edged up 0.3%.
Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, led by energy’s (.SPNY), opens new tab 1.3% rise. Crude prices climbed as investors priced in tighter global supply following the U.S. threat of tariffs on nations buying Venezuelan oil.
The main focus of this week will be the personal consumption expenditures price index – the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge – due on Friday.
Concerns around inflation have pushed consumer confidence to its lowest in over four years, while analysts have said that a prolonged slump in dealmaking activity is likely to spark a wave of job cuts on Wall Street.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said that it may take longer than anticipated for the next cut because of economic uncertainty, according to a report.
Speeches from policymakers including Neel Kashkari and Alberto Musalem are anticipated later in the day.
Both the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab tumbled 10% from their respective record highs earlier this month – a phenomenon known as a correction.
Dollar Tree (DLTR.O), opens new tab rose 3.8% after the discount-retail chain said it is nearing a sale of its Family Dollar business to a consortium of private equity investors for about $1 billion.
Excluding the Family Dollar banner, the company reported quarterly net sales marginally higher than the previous year’s figure.
GameStop (GME.N), opens new tab jumped 9.8% following its board’s unanimous approval to incorporate bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 20 new highs and 70 new lows.
Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel
