U.S. stock index futures rose slightly Tuesday, bouncing after the previous session’s selloff as investors digested heightened uncertainty over global trade and AI disruptions fears ahead of key Nvidia earnings.
At 05:45 ET (10:45 GMT), Dow Jones Futures rose 60 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures gained 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures advanced 66 points, or 0.3%.
The main averages on Wall Street sank in the prior session, dragged down by ongoing worries over disruption to a variety of companies from new AI models.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.7% lower, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite declined 1.1% and the broad-based S&P 500 shed around 1% and slipped into the red for the year.
The losses followed a report from Citrini Research which posited a dire hypothetical scenario for the coming years in which AI sparks a wave of mass unemployment among white collar workers, dents consumer spending, drives loan defaults, and ultimately leads to economic contraction.
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Trade uncertainty; FedEx sues over tariff refunds Markets continue to fret over the future of global trade, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s new global trade tariffs went into effect at a 10% level at midnight on Tuesday after a Supreme Court ruling last week struck down his so-called "reciprocal" levies.
The 10% level was communicated through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s messaging service, and is lower than the 15% tariff touted by Trump over the weekend. However, the White House is working on a delivering a formal order raising the rate to 15%, Bloomberg News has reported.
Given the murky outlook for Trump’s trade agenda, uncertainty has surrounded the path ahead for specific deals his administration agreed to with a variety of trading partners. Trump, confronted with some countries reportedly beginning to reassess whether these accords are still standing in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, warned them in a social media post not to "play games."
Adding the general uncertainty, FedEx (NYSE:FDX) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Monday, seeking a “full refund” for the emergency tariffs paid over the past year.
FedEx is the first company to seek refunds after the Supreme Court decision, and joins a whole host of firms legally challenging Trump’s tariffs.
The Supreme Court decision left it unclear just what will be done with the revenue collected from Trump’s illegal tariffs, which is estimated at more than $160 billion.
Home Depot leads earnings slate Sentiment towards tech also remained weak in anticipation of quarterly earnings from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), due on Wednesday. The world’s most valuable company is widely regarded as a bellwether for AI demand, and is expected to report strong earnings growth from last year.
Elsewhere, Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) has increased its offer for Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), according to Reuters, as the group attempts to persuade the HBO Max owner to ditch its deal with Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Citing a source familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Paramount’s new bid improves its initial offer of $30-per-share, or about $108.4 billion, for Warner Bros as a whole. Netflix, on the other hand, has notched an agreement with Warner for its studios and streaming assets that is worth $27.75 per share in cash -- roughly $82.7 billion.
