United States stock futures traded within a tight range on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST), following a mixed performance during the regular session amid escalating trade policy developments from President Donald Trump.
By 9 am AEST (11 pm GMT), futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 were all trading within a narrow range of ±0.1%.
During Tuesday’s session, markets were unsettled as the White House introduced further details of its expanding trade strategy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked up by 0.03%.
President Trump reiterated via a Truth Social post that there would be no changes or extensions to the new tariffs targeting countries including Japan and South Korea.
The newly announced duties, ranging from 25% to 40%, will take effect on 1 August.
Added to the pressure, Trump also introduced a steep 50% tariff on copper imports and hinted at additional sector-specific duties.
In a separate announcement, he threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200% on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S., while noting that these measures would not take effect immediately. “I’ll give people about a year, year and a half,” he said.
Looking ahead, investors are eyeing Wednesday’s release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes from its latest policy meeting.
