Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on May 27, 2025, in New York City.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Stock futures rose slightly Wednesday as investors monitor the latest tariff updates from President Donald Trump.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 82 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures moved up 0.2% along with Nasdaq-100 futures.
Traders were on guard during Tuesday’s session as Trump rolled out new updates to his tariff policy.
The S&P 500 inched down 0.07%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.03%. The 30-stock Dow lost nearly 0.4%. Global stock markets, in particular the Nikkei 225 in Japan and South Korea’s Kospi and Europe’s Stoxx 600 index, posted modest gains just a day after Trump announced sharp tariffs on 14 countries.
On Tuesday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that there would be no change or extensions on the raft of duties he announced on those nations, which include Japan and South Korea. The new tariff rates range from 25% to 40% and are set to begin on Aug. 1.
Trump on Tuesday also announced a 50% levy on copper imports and hinted that further sector-specific tariffs will soon be announced. He threatened Tuesday afternoon to impose up to 200% tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S., but said that he will “give people about a year, year and a half” until the duties go into effect.
“The tariff announcement was a reminder that markets are not out of the woods. The White House has not really achieved their goals on trade, and that could be a continued source of volatility,” said Scott Helfstein, Global X head of investment strategy.
In addition to watching further tariff policy developments on Wednesday, traders will be monitoring the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s minutes from its last meeting.