Wall St set for muted open on corporate earnings, trade talks
At 08:31 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.03%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 12.25 points, or 0.05%, and Dow E-minis were down 50 points, or 0.11%.
U.S. stock futures trimmed early losses after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to meet his Chinese counterpart next week, potentially discussing an extension to the August 12 deadline set for tariffs on China.
With little more than a week to go before the August 1 deadline for most U.S. trading partners, Bessent emphasized on Monday that the administration was prioritizing the quality of trade deals over speed.
Meanwhile, trade talks have hit a roadblock as the European Union weighs new countermeasures against the United States. Hopes for an interim U.S. deal with India were fading, Indian government officials said.
Wall Street's heavyweights are starting to feel the sting of tariffs. General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab saw its second-quarter core profit tumble 32% to $3 billion, blaming steep tariff costs for shaving $1.1 billion from its bottom line.
"Everyone's watching GM very closely, and the numbers did disappoint and specifically related to tariffs," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Muriel Siebert.
"The fact that they did come out and say that there's going to be a forecast based on increases in tariffs is something that is going to play out throughout the day."
The company's shares lost 2.3% in premarket trading, while peer Ford (F.N), opens new tab also dipped 0.7%.
RTX (RTX.N), opens new tab cut its 2025 profit forecast as the aerospace and defense giant took a hit from Trump's tariff war. Its shares fell 1%.
Despite trade policy uncertainty out of Washington, the resilience of the economy has propelled major indexes to fresh all-time highs.
Still, a slew of positive earnings surprises has kept markets near record territory. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a healthy 6.7% jump in second-quarter profits, with Big Tech leading the charge, data compiled by LSEG showed.
Tuesday's cautious trading comes after a rollercoaster session that ended with the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab both notching record closes. Much of the action was fueled by investors snapping up megacaps such as Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab ahead of earnings.
Google-parent Alphabet and EV-maker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab will kick off quarterly results for the "Magnificent Seven" stocks on Wednesday.
Shares of Tesla were up 0.1% in premarket trading, having fallen about 19% so far in 2025 amid CEO Elon Musk's political involvement and challenges faced by its core business.
Following last week's mixed economic signals, traders have all but ruled out a rate cut next week and now see about a 56% chance of a reduction in September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
Among other movers, U.S. coal miners Peabody Energy (BTU.N), opens new tab and Warrior Met Coal (HCC.N), opens new tab were up about 5% each as China's coking coal prices surged amid market speculation about government inspections in major production hubs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russia says it has captured two villages in Ukraine, Ukraine reports heavy fighting
MOSCOW, July 26 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday its forces had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, including one in Dnipropetrovsk region where Moscow says its troops have begun to make advances. Ukrainian forces made no acknowledgement that the villages had changed hands, but reported heavy fighting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an assessment of the situation along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line, said the logistics hub of Pokrovsk remained the focal point of battles. He also said Ukrainian forces had recorded "successful actions" in Sumy region on Ukraine's northern border, where Russian forces have established a foothold in recent weeks. Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield accounts from either side. The front-line clashes were reported three days after the two sides held their third direct meeting in Turkey aimed at resolving the nearly 3-1/2-year-old war. Both sides reported progress in swaps of prisoners or the remains of war dead, but no breakthroughs were announced in terms of a ceasefire or a meeting of the two countries' leaders. Russia's military has been reporting nearly daily the capture of new villages in its slow advance westward. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had taken control of Zelenyi Hai in Donetsk region and Maliivka, a village just inside Dnipropetrovsk region. The ministry described Zelenyi Hai as "a major stronghold of Ukrainian formations in this section of the front (that) covered approaches to the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk region". Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five regions that Moscow claims as its own -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014. Russia last month said its forces had crossed into Dnipropetrovsk region and now says it holds at least two villages. Ukraine's military has for weeks dismissed any notion that Russian troops hold territory in the region. The Ukrainian military's General Staff, in a late evening report, mentioned Zelenyi Hai as one of several frontline areas that had come under Russian attack 11 times over the past 24 hours. It said Maliivka was one of several villages where 10 Russian attacks had been halted. Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had identified Pokrovsk as an area requiring "special attention" under constant attack. A military spokesperson, Viktor Trehubov, told national television that Russian forces were attacking Pokrovsk in "a small simply does not stop".
Economist
2 hours ago
- Economist
Can Bernard Arnault steer LVMH out of crisis?
Louis Vuitton's new 17,000-square-foot development in Shanghai is, quite literally, the luxury brand's Chinese flagship. The structure, which serves as a store, restaurant, museum and billboard, is shaped like a giant boat, its hull emblazoned with Louis Vuitton's unmistakable monogram print. To some, it is also a metaphor for Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH, which is floundering in China and beyond. Is it a superyacht headed for promising new waters, asks Flavio Cereda-Parin of GAM, an asset manager, or 'Titanic 2.0'?
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Canada condemns Hong Kong arrest warrants targeting pro-democracy activists
TORONTO, July 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian government on Saturday condemned Hong Kong authorities issuing arrest warrants for pro-democracy activists based overseas. "The individuals targeted yesterday under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in Hong Kong include Canadians and people with close ties to Canada," the government said in a statement. "This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad, including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada, will not be tolerated." Hong Kong's national security police announced arrest warrants for 19 activists based overseas, accusing them of subversion under a stringent law, marking the largest such tally yet.
