US tech shares lift Wall Street futures on tariff exemption hopes
NEW YORK : US stock index futures rose today, pointing to fresh gains on Wall Street, on signs that major technology companies will avoid President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on chip imports.
Apple's shares climbed 3.2% in premarket trading, having risen 5.1% and led gains on Wall Street in the prior session, after Trump said the iPhone maker will invest an additional US$100 billion in the US, bringing its total commitment to US$600 billion over the next four years.
Trump also announced a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but said it would not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the US or have committed to do so.
Shares of chipmakers including Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel rose in the range of 1.2% to 2.5%.
At 6.16am, S&P 500 E-minis were up 53.75 points, or 0.84%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 197 points, or 0.84%, and Dow E-minis were up 274 points, or 0.62%.
The president's higher tariffs of 10% to 50% on dozens of trading partners took effect today.
Still, expectations of policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed) – sparked by some disappointing economic data, particularly the July payrolls report – as well as optimism around AI spending by companies have kept markets near record highs.
Following the latest jobs data, traders have almost fully priced in a 25 basis point rate cut in September and expect at least two rate cuts this year, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Weekly jobless claims data, due at 8.30am, could offer fresh clues on the health of the labour market and shift rate cut expectations.
Investors are also watching for Trump's interim replacement for Fed governor Adriana Kugler in the coming days, amid expectations that the nominee would be a policy dove who will likely favour bringing interest rates lower.
Kugler's resignation leaves an opening at the seven-member Fed board led by chair Jerome Powell, who Trump has repeatedly criticised for not cutting borrowing costs. Powell's tenure is due to end in May 2025.
Second-quarter earnings barrage continued at full throttle.
DoorDash topped revenue estimates and forecasted a stronger-than-expected gross merchandise value for the current quarter. Its shares jumped 8.6%.
Lyft's quarterly revenue miss took its stock down 2.3%, even as the ride-hailing firm gave an upbeat gross bookings forecast for the September quarter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
31 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Trump teases cash ‘dividend' to Americans from tariffs, but who foots the bill as US debt soars?
WASHINGTON, Aug 8 — If Donald Trump is to be believed, millions of Americans could receive a financial slice of the fortunes generated by the US president's sweeping tariffs. But the eyebrow-raising suggestion from a leader with a flair for creating headlines is largely opaque — with key questions left open about how the giveaway would be funded. Trump himself has acknowledged the difficulty in splashing cash at a time when the United States faces crushing debt. 'We have so much money coming in, we are thinking about a little rebate,' Trump said last month, 'but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt.' He has since referred to the so-called rebate as a 'dividend,' and said it could be for 'people that would be middle income people and lower income people.' His idea has, naturally, roused interest. Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill in July that would see US$600 (RM2,537) checks sent to each adult and dependent child in American families. Trump has a track record in dishing out money — or at least taking the credit for it. During the Covid pandemic, he insisted that his name be put on government checks distributed to tens of millions of Americans as financial support. Looming questions Trump's latest plan raises a key question: How will it be financed? The United States faces a national deficit that worsened from October to June compared to the same period a year earlier. That was despite a rise in revenue generated by tariffs that Trump has slapped on dozens of US trading partners. Handing out cash to Americans would add to the deficit and increase the country's debt, which was at more than US$36.8 trillion by early August. Trump, when explaining his dividend idea, has claimed the United States is raking in trillions of dollars from other countries thanks to his protectionist agenda. The Republican has also cited large investments promised by Japan and the European Union — deals that coincided with agreements on US tariffs. But foreign leaders paint a different picture. Japan, for example, has stated that its US$550 billion pledge will largely be in the form of loans and guarantees — certainly not just hard cash. And Trump's claims about the revenue generated by tariffs can also be misleading. The president claims — wrongly — that tariffs are paid by foreign countries to the US government. Yet, in reality, it is importers in the United States that are on the hook. Most economists note that American consumers therefore end up paying more as businesses, facing rising costs, raise prices on their products. — AFP
The Star
42 minutes ago
- The Star
S&P 500 eases, Nasdaq manages record closing high
The Dow fell 224.48 points, or 0.51%, to 43,968.64, the S&P 500 lost 5.06 points, or 0.08%, to 6,340.00 and the Nasdaq gained 73.27 points, or 0.35%, to 21,242.70. NEW YORK: The Dow and S&P 500 eased on Thursday, as shares of Eli Lilly dropped after data from its oral weight loss drug disappointed, while the Nasdaq eked out a record closing high. Just before the session's end, US President Donald Trump said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the remaining term of Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler. Miran is due to serve in the role until January 31, 2026, while Trump continues a search for a permanent replacement. Earlier, investors digested a Bloomberg report that Fed Governor Christopher Waller was Trump's top candidate for the US central bank's chair post. Trump has been critical of current chair Jerome Powell for holding off on cutting borrowing costs. Eli Lilly, which also raised its full-year profit and sales forecast, fell after the orforglipron drug data. The stock ended down 14.1%. Shares of Fortinet also fell, with the stock finishing 22% lower, after the cybersecurity firm gave a revenue forecast below Wall Street estimates. "The market rally is beginning to look a little bit tired here. We ran up on earnings, and of course the market was basically ignoring a lot of the tariff news," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. Trump's higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries kicked in on Thursday, raising the average U.S. import duty to its highest in a century. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 224.48 points, or 0.51%, to 43,968.64, the S&P 500 lost 5.06 points, or 0.08%, to 6,340.00 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 73.27 points, or 0.35%, to 21,242.70. The S&P 500 has hit 15 record closing highs this year, while the Nasdaq has posted 17 all-time closing highs so far in 2025. Among other decliners, chipmaker Intel was down 3.1% after Trump called for the immediate resignation of new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, calling him "highly conflicted" due to his ties to Chinese firms. Helping the Nasdaq, Apple shares rose 3.2% after the latest tariff salvo from Trump largely exempted industry heavyweights from his threat to impose 100% levy on chips and semiconductors. The US president announced a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors, but said it would not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the US or have committed to do so. Rate cut expectations remained largely the same after the day's data on the labor market. Weekly initial jobless claims rose 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 226,000, the highest level since the week ended July 5 and slightly above the 221,000 estimate of economists polled by Reuters, according to the data. Market expectations for a September rate cut of at least 25 basis points from the Fed stood at 93.2%, down slightly from the 94.6% in the prior session and well above the 37.7% from a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 232 new highs and 80 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,944 stocks rose and 2,622 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.35-to-1 ratio. Volume on US exchanges was 17.40 billion shares, compared with the 18.23 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. — Reuters
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Apple expands iPhone glass deal to avoid tariffs
WASHINGTON: Apple Inc chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook is using a familiar strategy to stay in Donald Trump's good graces: expanding existing initiatives to show he supports the president's 'Made in the USA' agenda. Standing in the Oval Office on Wednesday between Trump and vice-president JD Vance, Cook announced that Apple would increase its US investment commitment to US$600bil over four years – up from the US$500bil pledged after Trump's second-term victory. A centrepiece of the expansion is a US$2.5bil investment into Corning Inc, Apple's longtime glass supplier. For the first time, the cover glass for all iPhones and Apple Watches will be manufactured in the United States, at Corning's facility in Kentucky. Though Apple has touted the US roots of iPhone glass before, a portion of that glass was previously made overseas. 'Apple's been an investor in other countries a little bit. I won't say which ones, but a couple. And they're coming home,' Trump said when making the announcement. The US$600bil investment, he said, is 'the biggest there is.' The iPhone maker also discussed increased agreements focused on semiconductor manufacturing, expanding deals with partners like Samsung Electronics Co, Texas Instruments Inc and Broadcom Inc. Apple is branding the effort the American Manufacturing Programme, or AMP. In all, the announcements provided just enough evidence that Apple was focusing on America – without forcing it to make major changes. Corning has supplied Apple since the first iPhone in 2007, and Cook has long promoted the iPhone's American-made glass. What's new is the modestly increased scale. Apple is pointing to the deals as it seeks relief from looming tariffs. The Trump administration is letting exemptions on smartphone and gadget levies expire and adopting new duties on Indian imports – a potential issue for Apple, which recently shifted US-bound iPhone assembly to India. Cook even seized on Trump's famous love of gold. He presented the president with a large, circular Corning glass plaque engraved with the president's name, mounted in 24-karat gold. The Apple CEO said that the glass came off an assembly line in Kentucky while the gold was produced in Utah. Cook added that a former US Marine who works at Apple designed the plaque. Trump announced a major enticement – companies investing in the United States – even if the projects are in early stages, would get a break from some tariffs. 'The good news for companies like Apple is, if you're building in the United States, or have committed to build,' Trump said, 'there will be no charge.' Apple's pledges are expected to meet that criteria, even if it isn't actually making iPhones and other popular devices in the United States. Assembly of the smartphone – a costly and complex process of combining components, testing and boxing devices – will continue in China and, increasingly, India. That part will stay 'elsewhere for a while,' Cook said. But 'there's a lot of content in there from the United States, and we're very proud of it.' Trump acknowledged that assembly was 'set up in other places, and it's been there for a long time,' but he reiterated his desire to bring that stage of production to the United States someday. 'This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States also are made in America,' he said. Trump's existing tariffs have already taken a toll on Apple. It said last week that the levies would cost the company about US$1.1bil in the September quarter. But Apple is looking to avoid incurring further costs, especially as it prepares to unveil the iPhone 17 line next month. Cook is also likely seeking support from Trump on other fronts: The US Justice Department is suing the company for alleged antitrust violations, and the agency is threatening its US$20bil search deal with Alphabet Inc's Google in a separate case. The US government also could potentially help Apple cope with tough new restrictions on the App Store in the European Union. This isn't the first time Apple has used US manufacturing announcements to promote Trump's priorities. In 2019, the company promised to assemble a new Mac Pro in Texas. It wasn't a big change: Apple had produced the previous model in the state since 2013. But that gesture helped land the company a reprieve from tariffs. Earlier this year, after Trump's return to office, Cook unveiled the initial US$500bil commitment – an acceleration of the investments Apple had begun under President Joe Biden. At that time, Apple announced it would start making artificial intelligence servers in Houston. — Bloomberg
