Wall Street set for weaker open as investors await Trump's tariffs plans

Wall Street indexes were on track to open lower on Wednesday as investors awaited details of US President Donald Trump's tariff plans to assess their impact on the global economy, corporate earnings and inflation. 

US stocks have been volatile in recent days, with investors preferring to hold safer assets such as gold and government bonds over risky equities, as they speculate about the extent of economic damage from the US-led tariff war. 

Details of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff plans were still being formulated and closely held ahead of a White House Rose Garden announcement ceremony scheduled for 4 pm ET (2000 GMT). 

 

Futures extended losses after a Bloomberg report said China has taken measures to limit its companies from making investments in the US in an effort to gain more leverage in potential trade talks with the Trump administration. 

Trump has said that his reciprocal tariffs aim to equalize the comparatively lower US tariff rates with those imposed by other nations. But the format of the duties was unclear with reports that Trump was considering a 20 per cent universal tariff. 

The uncertainty around the specifics of the tariffs is heavily weighing on investors, prompting them to continue reducing their allocations to the US, said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group. 

"If there are hints that they're going for a less draconian sort of tariffs, we could see some relief," he added. 

By 8:23 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis fell 52.5 points, or 0.93 per cent. Nasdaq 100 e-minis dropped 222.25 points, or 1.13 per cent, and Dow e-minis were down 302 points, or 0.71 per cent. 

Futures tracking the domestically focused Russell 2000 index were down 1.3 per cent. 

Tech stocks, which have been at the forefront of the selloff this week, slipped in premarket trading. Nvidia slid 2 per cent, Microsoft slipped 1.8 per cent. 

US stocks have come under sharp selling pressure this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq falling 10 per cent from their record highs last month and confirming a correction. 

The S&P 500 shed 4.6 per cent in the first quarter, its biggest three-month decline since July 2022. 

In economic data, US private payrolls growth accelerated in March. Factory orders data are scheduled for release later in the day. 

Focus, however, is on the crucial monthly non-farm payrolls data as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Friday for insights on the health of the US economy and trajectory of interest rates. 

Traders are betting on three rate cuts from the Fed this year but the prospect of tariff-induced inflationary pressures has clouded the outlook. 

Among stocks, Tesla dipped 2.7 per cent ahead of its first-quarter deliveries numbers. The stock has fallen 33.5 per cent so far this year. 

Trump Media & Technology Group slid 7.7 per cent after the parent of social media platform Truth Social announced stock offering plans.     

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)