Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures waver as Wall Street faces escalating trade war

US stock futures wavered as Wall Street continues to grapple with President Trump’s escalating trade war.

Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) dipped 0.1%.

Stocks have had a rollercoaster of a week, starting off on a high on hopes that Trump would temper his tariff plans and then abruptly diving on Wednesday upon news of new duties on auto imports.

Markets continued to slide Thursday as Wall Street digested Trump’s 25% levies on foreign cars along with more hawkish comments on what lies ahead in the trade war. April 2, the date when broad reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect, is looming large.

Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs

On Friday, investors’ attention will turn to the release of February’s Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. The reading will shed light on how current inflation compares to the Fed’s 2% target.

Fed officials have projected higher inflation and slower economic growth amid new tariffs, though Fed Chair Jerome Powell has reassured Wall Street that rising prices will likely be “transitory.”

But, Powell’s words are fading into the background as Trump’s trade war escalates and more Fed officials say they aren’t exactly sure where the economy goes next, with one policymaker describing situation as “zero visibility.”