Francis Chung / Politico / Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Stock futures were ricking lower in premarket trading Friday as investors readied for economic data releases and evaluated the latest tariff proposals.
In the news: President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement delayed implementation of reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners and sent stocks higher; U.S. retail sales are expected to decline in January after several months of strength; Airbnb (ABNB) shares soar as a busy earnings week wraps up; bitcoin (BTCUSD) moved higher after reports that GameStop (GME) would begin investing in cryptocurrencies.
Here’s what investors need to know today.
Stock futures pointed lower in premarket trading as investors reviewed the latest announcement on tariffs and watched for more economic data. Futures trading associated with the S&P 500 was down after the benchmark index added 1% in the prior session to close just shy of an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 0.3% after its advance yesterday put the blue-chip index near its own record high, while the tech-focused Nasdaq pointed lower after adding 1.5% on Thursday. Major market indexes were in position to post gains for the week. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note were around 4.5%, while oil and gold futures ticked higher.
Stocks rose Thursday after Trump signed an executive order that delayed implementation of reciprocal tariffs on countries that have their own tariffs on U.S. goods. The order instructed agencies to review tariffs applied to U.S. exports in order to find how they could be evenly matched, with reports expected by April 1. Some had expected the announcement to go further toward actually implementing reciprocal tariffs, and some interpreted the news as a sign that tariffs on U.S. imports may not be as steep as originally thought, while also raising optimism that some tariffs on experts may be lowered. The move comes after Trump laid out new steel and aluminum tariffs earlier this week.
U.S. retail sales are expected to contract in January when that data is released by the Census Bureau at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires forecasted that consumers would decrease their spending by 0.2%, down from the 0.4% increase registered in December. The latest economic data is expected as strong consumer spending has helped support growth, but showed signs of slowing in December. Investors are also watching for reports on industrial production and import prices.