United States stock futures hovered near flat on Sunday night (Monday AEST), as investor sentiment remained fragile in the wake of weak labour market data and the Trump administration’s newly modified tariff plan.
By 9:20 am AEST (11:20 pm GMT), futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 were each up by less than 0.1%.
The subdued moves follow a volatile trading week that ended with steep losses across all three major benchmarks on Friday, halting a multi-week rally in the broader market.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.4% for the week, its worst performance since 23 May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2.9%, marking its sharpest weekly decline since 4 April. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2%.
Friday’s sharp sell-off was triggered by a disappointing July jobs report, which showed just 73,000 jobs were created last month, well below estimates, and included large downward revisions to prior months.
The data also renewed concerns about the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.
Adding to the unease was President Donald Trump’s signing of a new executive order updating his “reciprocal” tariffs. The revised measures target dozens of U.S. trading partners, including countries such as Syria and Taiwan, and introduce new duty rates ranging from 10% to 41%.
Goods rerouted to avoid tariffs will also face additional levies as part of the clampdown.
Investors are now grappling with the potential fallout from a softening labour market and the implications for inflation and growth. Market participants had been increasingly confident of a September interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve, but that conviction has been shaken.
Last week, the central bank opted to keep its benchmark rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting, and the mixed signals from the latest economic data have left traders reassessing the path of future policy moves.
