Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 12, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stock futures slipped on Thursday as investors awaited another key inflation report.
Futures tied to the broad market index were 0.4% lower. while futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 146 points, or 0.4%. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.6%.
The Nasdaq’s decline on Thursday morning was a reversal from the day before. Beleaguered tech stocks caught a bid Wednesday as investors snapped up shares, lifting the S&P 500 higher by 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite also popped 1.2% thanks to gains from Nvidia and Palantir Technologies. The 30-stock Dow was an outlier, however, notching a third straight losing day and falling 0.2%.
Futures extended their selling after a fresh threat of tariffs from the President Donald Trump.
On Thursday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to threaten 200% tariffs on all alcoholic products coming from countries in the European Union in retaliation for the E.U.’s 50% tariff on whisky. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.,” he wrote.
Investors Thursday are awaiting more inflation data in the form of last month’s producer price index.
February’s reading of the consumer price index — a wide-ranging measure of costs across the U.S. economy — came in softer than expected on Wednesday morning. Headline inflation rose 0.2% from the prior month and 2.8% on an annual basis.
The report may have eased traders’ concerns about the direction of the economy and the impact tariffs could have on inflation. Indeed, President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs went into effect on Wednesday, and Canada slapped a 25% retaliatory levy on more than $20 billion of U.S. goods.
Though market strategists have been watching for a technical bounce after the recent sell off, some say the latest inflation print likely isn’t enough to lead to a sizable rebound. Concerns over Trump’s trade policies remain a key hangover on investor sentiment, and they throw into question how the Federal Reserve may proceed on interest rates.
“We still believe the next Fed rate move is lower, but it is hard to have high confidence with the impact of tariffs still uncertain,” said Scott Helfstein, Global X’s head of investment strategy. “The key question is whether tariffs will have a greater impact on growth or prices. In recent weeks, the rates market has signaled that weaker growth is the bigger concern with three cuts now being priced for this year.”
Week to date, all three major averages are on pace for steep declines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track for losses of about 3%. The Dow is off 3.4% in the period, heading for its worst week since March 2023. The broad market index briefly dipped into correction territory on Tuesday, down 10% from a record set in February.
