Stock futures are pointing to a sharply higher open for major U.S. indexes on Tuesday as volatile trading continues amid uncertainty about tariffs.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently up 2.9%, or 1,100 points, while those linked to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq added 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively. The Dow and the S&P finished lower on Monday, while the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite inched higher in a wild trading session during which the major indexes swung between huge losses and big gains only to finish relatively unchanged.
U.S. stocks had their worst week in five years last week as investors reacted to President Trump’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs on almost every country, with some major trading partners, including China, Japan and the European Union subject to particularly high levies. The so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, which are due to go into effect tomorrow, are designed to restore competitive balance and bring manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S., though economists and investors worry that the import taxes could spark inflation and cause economic growth to stall.
Investors have been keeping close tabs on comments about the tariffs from Trump and other White House officials, who have given no indication that they’ll back off from their plans. Market participants also are waiting to see how other countries respond to the tariffs, after China on Friday countered with retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U,S.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which fell sharply last week as fears of a possible recession intensified, was at 4.23% this morning, up from 4.16% at yesterday’s close. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, had fallen as low as 3.87% on Monday, near its lowest levels since October.
Mega-cap technology stocks were up across the board in premarket trading, led by chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO), which gained 4% and 6%, respectively. Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) were each up about 3%, while Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) both tacked on about 2%.
Shares of several of the companies that were hit particularly hard during last week’s rout were gaining ground this morning. Shares of Nike (NKE), Boeing (BA) and Goldman Sachs (GS) were each up more than 4%, while shares of Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) rose more than 3%.
Health insurer stocks were on the rise after the federal government announced late yesterday that it would pay Medicare insurers more next year than previously expected. Humana (HUM) was recently up 18%, while CVS Health (CVS) rose 11%. Elevance Health (ELV) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) gained 10% and 8%, respectively.
Gold futures were up 1.7% at $3,025 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 0.9% to $61.25 per barrel, after hitting a four-year low yesterday.
Bitcoin was trading at $79,600, up from an overnight low of $78,100. The digital currency slipped as low as $74,500 on Monday.
