U.S. stock futures surged on Monday morning as investors reacted to reports that President Trump may delay threatened tariffs. This comes after Wall Street’s close of a tough first quarter. Stocks managed to eke out a small gain last Friday, with the S&P 500 ending a four-week losing streak, though it is still down 4.8% for the month.
With April 2 as a target date for fresh trade measures, markets are highly sensitive to any White House development. Bloomberg reports that the U.S. will likely be excluding some countries from tariffs, particularly those running a deficit in trade with the U.S. Rumor has it also that Trump might backtrack on industry-specific tariffs in the sectors of pharma, autos, and chips. These trends have supported optimism in stock futures as investors wait for key inflation data and the last fourth quarter reading on GDP later this week.
In the bond market, the 10-year benchmark Treasury yield rose to 4.283%, and 2-year yields increased 5 basis points to 3.985%. The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 104.006 against a basket of currencies.
European stocks sustained their optimistic begin to the year, with the Stoxx 600 up 7.8% year-to-date and edging 0.15% higher Monday. The London FTSE 100 added 0.2%. Poor manufacturing and services data, however, suggest economic challenges on the horizon.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.18% as a strengthening yen and uncertainty surrounding trade discouraged sentiment. The MSCI ex-Japan index rose 0.53% to close Monday’s session.
Bottom line: Markets are climbing on hopes that Trump will soften his tariff stance, yet investors are in wait-and-see mode with key economic reports pending.
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Editor in Chief- Timothy Gocklin, MBA, MSF
