US pre-open: Subdued start expected as investors weigh tariff newsflow
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 08 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - US stock futures were pointing to a subdued start on Tuesday morning as investors continued to digest the latest tariff developments on another quiet day for economic data.
By 0545 ET, Dow futures were down 0.1%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were up 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.
Stocks fell sharply on Monday after Donald Trump re-escalated his tariff war against America's trading partners, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreating from record highs reached last week.
While the president pushed back the deadline for his blanket 'reciprocal' tariffs from 9 July to 1 August - to be imposed on countries that do not have specific trade deals with the US - the president has now confirmed higher duties on goods imported from Japan and Malaysia, while keeping South Africa's and South Korea's unchanged.
Trump also threatened to punish countries aligning themselves with policies of the BRICS intergovernmental organisation with an additional 10% tariff.
"Will we see businesses swallow the increased cost through lower margins and earnings, or will they pass the costs on to the consumer, thus signalling impending inflationary pressures?" asked Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
"Notably, while US inflation is yet to pick-up, the fact that Trump has decided to hit BRICS nations with an additional 10% (they account for over 40% of global GDP) means that we are likely to soon see price pressures build."
For the second straight day, no major economic data is due out in the US, with the exception of the NFIB small business optimism index for June, which is expected to hold more or less steady after its first increase in six months in May.
Tesla futures were rising slightly after the stock dropped 7% on Monday following chief executive Elon Musk's announced that he is launching a new political party.
Meanwhile, Apple was trading flat pre-market after rumours that its top AI executive Ruoming Pang is leaving the company to joint Meta Platforms.
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