US stock futures pulled back on Monday as Wall Street braced for a turbulent week, with renewed trade tensions injecting uncertainty ahead of a key inflation report and the first wave of second-quarter earnings.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) were both roughly 0.3% lower. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) also fell around 0.3%, setting up to add to Friday’s losses.
Investors are showing little appetite for risk after President Trump said Saturday that the US will impose 30% tariffs on goods from the EU and Mexico from Aug. 1. The increased pressure on key US trading partners is testing the market’s previous resilience in the face of escalating tariff tensions. Faith in the idea that Trump will back off from threatened hikes helped lift stocks to all-time highs last week.
Silver (SI=F) prices rose to the highest levels in nearly 14 years, as shelter-seeking investors looked for alternatives to a near-record gold (GC=F) price, with increased demand leading to tighter physical supply. Elsewhere, bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged to above $120,000 for the first time, continuing to climb to fresh record highs amid a broader crypto rally.
Officials from the EU and Mexico are pushing to continue negotiations with the US in hopes of securing a lower rate via a new deal. The hiked tariffs as they stand are seen as likely to remake global trade relations and add to existing inflationary pressures.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
That adds uncertainty ahead of consumer inflation data scheduled for release this week. Investors are looking to the June CPI report for signs of how earlier rounds of tariffs are impacting prices across the US economy. The reading will feed into expectations for the Fed’s decision on interest rates due in just over two weeks.
Earnings season kicks into swing this week, with all the major US banks due to report results starting on Tuesday. Investors are showing interest in IPO and M&A markets, while Wells Fargo (WFC) reports after being freed from decade of stringent regulatory restrictions.
Netflix (NFLX) results on Thursday will get Big Tech earnings rolling, with ASML (ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) also set to shed light on the AI chip sector.
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