Wall Street futures down as Trump's tariffs stay put after latest court ruling
Stocks have seen immense volatility this month due to US President Donald Trump's on-and-off tariff moves. (Reuters pic)
NEW YORK : Wall Street futures slipped today, as investors took stock of an appeals court decision to undo a prior ruling that had blocked most of US President Donald Trump's tariffs, heading into the last trading day of a solid month for equities.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on pace for their best monthly showing since November 2023, while the Dow is also set for a near 4% monthly advance.
Stocks have seen immense volatility this month on Trump's on-and-off tariff moves, though the S&P 500 has rebounded from its April low and now sits about 4% lower from its all-time high hit in February.
US equities had initially rallied yesterday when the court of international trade ruled late yesterday to effectively block most levies imposed since January, but did not address some industry-specific tariffs.
However, a federal appeals court yesterday temporarily reinstated most of the tariffs and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9.
'This week's courtroom drama has added another layer of uncertainty to what was already an unsettling series of events,' Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said in a morning note.
Hopes of more trade deals between the US and major trading partners, along with upbeat earnings and tame inflation data, have been some of the main drivers of gains in equities this month.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent stated that US trade talks with China are 'a bit stalled' and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
At 5.14am, Dow E-minis were down 31 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 8.5 points, or 0.14% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 36.5 points, or 0.17%.
Most megacap and growth stocks inched lower in premarket trading, with Nvidia off 0.7% after gaining in the last session on reporting robust quarterly revenue growth.
Chipmaker Marvell Technology shed 3.9% despite forecasting second-quarter revenue above estimates.
Ulta Beauty gained 8.6% after the cosmetics retailer raised its annual profit forecast after beating quarterly results.
Zscaler advanced 3.2% as the cloud security firm raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts and named Kevin Rubin as its CFO.
Later in the day, the personal consumption expenditure data – the Federal Reserve's (Fed) favoured inflation indicator – is scheduled for release at 8.30am, which could shed more light on the US Fed's interest rate trajectory.
Trump called Fed chair Jerome Powell to the White House late yesterday for their first face-to-face meeting since he took office in January and told the central bank chief he was making a 'mistake' by not lowering interest rates.
Traders currently see at least two 25 basis points of cuts by the end of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Global universities luring US-bound students amid Trump crackdown
UNIVERSITIES around the world are seeking to offer refuge to students impacted by United States President Donald Trump's crackdown on academic institutions, targeting top talent and a slice of the billions of dollars in academic revenue in the US. Osaka University, one of the top ranked in Japan, is offering tuition fee waivers, research grants and help with travel arrangements to students and researchers at US institutions that want to transfer. Japan's Kyoto University and Tokyo University are also considering similar schemes, while Hong Kong has instructed its universities to attract top talent from the US. China's Xi'an Jiaotong University has appealed for students at Harvard, singled out in Trump's crackdown, promising "streamlined" admissions and "comprehensive" support. Trump's administration has enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, curbed visas for foreign students, especially those from China, and plans to hike taxes on elite schools. Trump alleges top US universities are cradles of anti-American movements. In a dramatic escalation, his administration last week revoked Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students, a move later blocked by a federal judge. Masaru Ishii, dean of the graduate school of medicine at Osaka University, described the impact on US universities as "a loss for all of humanity". Japan aims to ramp up its number of foreign students to 400,000 over the next decade, from around 337,000 now. Jessica Turner, CEO of Quac-quarelli Symonds, a London-based analytics firm that ranks universities globally, said other leading universities around the world were trying to attract students unsure of going to the US. Germany, France and Ireland are attractive alternatives in Europe, she said, while in the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China are rising in profile. Chinese students have been particularly targeted in Trump's crackdown, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pledging to "aggressively" crack down on their visas. More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of US colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for US technology companies. International students — 54 per cent from India and China — contributed more than US$50 billion to the US economy in 2023. Trump's crackdown comes at a critical period in the international student application process, as many young people prepare to travel to the US in August to find accommodation and settle in before term starts. Dai, 24, a Chinese student based in Chengdu, had planned to head to the US to complete her master's degree but is seriously considering taking up an offer in Britain instead. "The policies (by the US government) were a slap in my face. I'm thinking about my mental health and I may change schools." Students from Britain and the European Union are also more hesitant to apply to US universities, said Tom Moon, deputy head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, which helps students in their university applications. There has been an uptick in applications to British universities from prospective students in the US, said Universities UK, an organisation that promotes British institutions. It said, however, that it was too early to say whether that translates into more students enrolling. Ella Rickets, an 18-year old first year student at Harvard from Canada, said she receives a generous aid package paid for by the school's donors. However, she is concerned that she won't be able to afford other options if forced to transfer. "Around the time I was applying to schools, the only university across the Atlantic I considered was Oxford. "However, I realised that I would not be able to afford the international tuition and there was no sufficient scholarship or financial aid available," she said. If Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students is revoked, she would most likely apply to the University of Toronto, she said. Analytics firm QS said overall visits to its 'Study in America' online guide have declined by 17.6 per cent in the last year — with interest from India alone down over 50 per cent. "If America turns these brilliant and talented students away, they will find other places to work and study," said Caleb Thompson, a 20-year-old US student at Harvard, who lives with eight international scholars. Additional reporting by John Geddie The writers are from Reuters
Free Malaysia Today
7 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
US FDA approves Moderna's next-gen Covid vaccine
Moderna's CEO Stephane Bancel said the approval provides a key tool to protect those at high risk of severe Covid-19. (EPA Images pic) CAMBRIDGE : The US food and drug administration has approved Moderna's next-generation Covid-19 vaccine for everyone aged 65 and above, the company said on Saturday, the first endorsement since the regulator tightened requirements. The vaccine has also been approved for people aged 12 to 64 with at least one or more underlying risk factors defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Moderna said in a statement. The company said it expects to have the vaccine, called mNEXSPIKE, available for the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season. 'The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from Covid-19,' CEO Stephane Bancel said in the statement. The department of health and human services, under the leadership of long-time vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is tightening regulatory scrutiny on vaccines. The FDA said on May 20 it planned to require drugmakers to test their Covid booster shots against an inert placebo in healthy adults under 65 for approval, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness. The Moderna vaccine can be stored in refrigerators rather than freezers, to offer longer shelf life and make distribution easier, especially in developing countries where supply-chain issues could hamper vaccination drives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kennedy also oversees, said on Thursday that Covid vaccines remain an option for healthy children when parents and doctors agree that it is needed, stopping short of Kennedy's announcement days earlier that the agency would remove the shots from its immunisation schedule. The CDC announcement eases investor concern to some extent, analysts say, as it keeps the existing framework for older adults and at-risk people who generally seek out the shots. FDA leaders have said 100 million to 200 million Americans would still be eligible for annual shots. Moderna is betting on its newer messenger RNA vaccines as it grapples with waning demand for its original Covid vaccine Spikevax and lower-than-expected uptake of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. The approval for mNEXSPIKE was based on late-stage trial data, which showed the shot was not inferior in efficacy compared to Spikevax in individuals aged 12 years and older. The shot also showed superior efficacy compared to Spikevax in adults 18 years of age and older in the study. Kennedy has kickstarted a major overhaul of health departments, laying off thousands of employees to align with President Donald Trump's goal of dramatically shrinking the federal government. This has further ignited worries about potential disruptions to the regulatory review of treatments and vaccines. The CDC's outside panel of vaccine experts in April discussed recommending the booster shots only for populations at risk of severe Covid-19 for the upcoming immunisation campaign. The FDA approved Novavax's Covid vaccine Nuvaxovid this month, limiting its use to older adults and people over the age of 12 with conditions that put them at risk due to the illness. Conditions that constitute additional risk range from illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease to behaviours like physical inactivity and substance abuse, according to the CDC. While Moderna's shots, as well as Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty, are mRNA-based, Novavax's vaccine is protein-based and takes longer to manufacture. Moderna this month withdrew an application seeking approval for its flu-and-Covid combination vaccine candidate to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza shot.
Malay Mail
9 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Courtroom tariff wars: Time for Malaysia to build a tariff-proof economy — Yap Wen Min
MAY 31 — On 29 May 2025, a US appeals court temporarily brought back President Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs, just one day after a trade court ruled them illegal. It was a reminder that recent shifts in US trade policy today are shaped not just by economic logic but by political swings — and even the courts now play a role in moderating that balance. For global partners like Malaysia, that means preparing for a world where trade rules are constantly doubted. According to BNM's Monetary Policy Statement (8 May 2025), the tariff measures announced by the US, along with retaliatory actions, have weakened the outlook on global growth and trade. The central bank also highlighted that the balance of risks to Malaysia's growth outlook is tilted to the downside, with references to external factors such as trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainties. Malaysia is among the countries subjected to these elevated tariffs, with a 24 per cent tariff on its exports to the US, justified by Washington as a response to trade imbalances — but applied without consultation. According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), the rationale behind Malaysia's 24 per cent tariff was based on the US administration's calculation of trade imbalances. In a Presidential Memorandum issued on 2 April 2025, President Donald Trump declared that under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), large and persistent US goods trade deficits are a threat to national security. The memorandum also stated that its large trade deficits were mainly due to lack of reciprocity in bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates, non-tariff barriers, and economic policies of key trading partners that suppress domestic wages and consumption. The tariffs, which targeted imports from most US trading partners including Malaysia, were introduced under the rationale of correcting 'unfair trade imbalances' (The White House, 2025). Earlier, in February 2025, Trump's administration had separately imposed additional tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada for enabling the fentanyl crisis. This earlier line of tariffs adds another layer of complexity to the broader trade picture leading into the April 'Liberation Day' announcement. Even if the method of setting 24 per cent for Malaysia may look rational on paper, the way it was applied outside multilateral frameworks and without prior consultation makes it part of a larger erosion of predictable, rules-based trade. Indeed, it has already created ripple effects across supply chains and investment flows. A report by Fitch Ratings also highlighted that these tariffs could lead to increased costs and operational challenges for companies reliant on cross-border trade. In response to these challenges, Malaysia has sought to deepen its economic ties with other partners. Notably, during a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Kuala Lumpur in April 2025, Malaysia and China signed over 30 bilateral cooperation agreements aimed at enhancing trade and investment relations. These agreements are part of Malaysia's strategy to diversify its trade partnerships and mitigate the impact of US tariffs. At the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on 27 May 2025, Southeast Asian leaders reached a consensus that any bilateral trade agreements with the United States regarding tariffs should not negatively impact other member nations. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, serving as ASEAN Chair, emphasized the importance of this unified stance to protect the region's collective economic interests amid global market volatility and the imposition of US-led tariffs that could impose duties ranging from 32 per cent to 49 per cent on six Asean countries. He also announced efforts to engage US President Trump directly to discuss these measures. Trucks drive past containers at the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in Ningbo, in China's eastern Zhejiang Province on May 28, 2025. — AFP pic We are entering a period where the rules of global trade are increasingly subject to reinterpretation. Legal challenges, geopolitical shifts, and executive orders constantly reshape what used to be predictable. For Malaysia, reacting case-by-case to new tariffs is no longer enough. In this uncertain climate, what's needed now is a structural, forward-looking strategy to insulate the economy from tariff shocks — positioning Malaysia not just as a victim of trade volatility but as a resilient and indispensable player in global supply chains. By 'tariff-proof', it implies making the economy resilient — able to withstand sudden tariff shocks without stopping growth or investment. Our strategy must tariff-proof the economy by diversifying risk and deepening competitiveness. Reshore and diversify supply chains Malaysia should scale up efforts to attract high-value manufacturing, especially in electronics and semiconductors, by capitalising on the global 'China +1' shift. Multinationals are already looking for alternatives outside China, and Malaysia is the front-runner in Southeast Asia for that trend. Leading global technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Oracle, have made substantial investments in Malaysia, reinforcing the country's position as a pivotal hub in the global semiconductor and digital infrastructure sector. The government can speed this up by offering targeted incentives like tax breaks, upgraded infrastructure, and workforce training to attract factories and R&D centres in strategic sectors. At the same time, developing more domestic capacity for key components — or sourcing them from trusted trade partners — would help buffer the impact if US tariffs or Chinese export controls disrupt critical supplies. Expand export support and insurance Even with diversification, Malaysian exporters will face new trade risks. The government should enhance trade finance and risk mitigation tools so that firms can weather tariff shocks. While Malaysia already provides export credit guarantees and market development grants, these should be boosted and made more flexible. It is also crucial to streamline export credit insurance, raise funding caps on trade missions, and help SMEs adapt products for new markets (e.g., halal certification, digital marketing) as recommended by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Such measures make Malaysian exports tariff-resilient by lowering the cost of finding and developing non-US buyers or adapting to changing rules. Position Malaysia as a trusted, neutral hub Geopolitically, Malaysia's strength lies in neutrality and multilateralism. As the chair of Asean, Malaysia has led calls for trade deals that don't harm neighbours, and this should be translated into concrete policy. For example, the government can work with Asean partners to create a formal Supply Chain Coordination Council. Regional coordination — such as pooled risk-sharing or regional sourcing strategies — can protect Asean economies from the impact of unilateral trade actions. On the home front, Malaysia should continue improving the ease of doing business with trade-friendly customs and financing. We should also promote our currency and banking as alternatives for regional trade settlement to ease heavy reliance on any one superpower's currency. In the US, our diplomat tells Washington that Malaysia is an ally with secure markets and reliable suppliers. We should similarly cultivate ties with China and Europe, offering to host assembly of goods that neither power wants to fully onshore. By actively marketing Malaysia as a stable bridge, we turn uncertainty into opportunity. None of these steps will be easy, but other countries are already moving in similar directions. In short, Malaysia must make its economy tariff-proof — by reshoring key supply lines, expanding export credit and insurance, steering investment into future-ready industries, and leveraging our neutral stance. By doing so, we show investors worldwide that Malaysia is a safe harbour amid trade turbulence. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
