The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the historic rally seen over the course of the previous session.
Traders may look to cash in on the spike seen in afternoon trading on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs."
Ongoing concerns about rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China may weigh on the markets, as Trump excluded the country out of the pause and even raised the tariff on Chinese goods to 125 percent.
Uncertainty about what will happen between now and the end of the 90-day pause may also lead to some apprehension on Wall Street.
"While the 90-day pause is welcome news for stocks, the lack of long-term clarity may become more of an issue as time goes on," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
The futures remained sharply lower even after the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a slight decrease by U.S. consumer prices in the month of March.
Following the nosedive seen over the past several sessions, stocks showed an astonishingly strong move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The major averages all moved sharply higher, posting their biggest one-day gains in years.
The major averages saw continued strength late in the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 1,857.06 or 12.2 percent to 17,124.97, the S&P 500 spiked by 474.13 points or 9.5 percent to 5,456.90 and the Dow surged 2,962.86 points or 7.9 percent to 40,608.45.
Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the day but skyrocketed after Trump announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs" on most countries to allow for negotiations.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that tariffs would be brought down to a "universal 10 percent" level during the 90-day pause.
With the rally, the major averages offset a huge chunk of the nosedive seen in the days after Trump initially announced the new tariffs last Wednesday.
"The stock market rebound is a combination of speculative investors needing to cover short positions; less fear of recession and stagflation; and optimism that tariff rates will ultimately end up lower than they are threatened today," said Bill Adams, Chief Economist for Comerica Bank.
However, the pause will not apply to China, as Trump announced he is raising the tariff on the country to 125 percent due to the "lack of respect" they have shown to the world's markets.
The higher tariffs on China come after the country retaliated to a previous increase by announcing it will raise its tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 percent from 34 percent just after midnight on Thursday.
In an earlier Truth Social post, Trump urged investors to "be cool," claimed "everything is going to work out well" and called this a "great time to buy."
Semiconductor stocks skyrocketed in reaction to the latest tariff news, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 18.7 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in over a year.
Substantial strength also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 15.3 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index bounced off a four-year closing low.
Oil service stocks also moved sharply higher amid a significant rebound by the price of crude oil, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 12.9 percent.
Computer hardware, software and networking stocks also showed strong moves to the upside, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are slumping $1.56 to $60.79 a barrel after surging $2.77 to $62.35 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after soaring $89.20 to $3,079.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $68.30 to $3,147.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 145.11 yen versus the 146.76 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1117 compared to yesterday's $1.0949.
Asia
Asian stocks rallied the most in more than two years on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump paused most of his sweeping reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to allow more time for negotiations but raised the levies on China to 125 percent, further escalating a high-stakes confrontation between the world's two largest economies.
The dollar weakened, helping metals halt the longest run of losses in 25 years. Gold rose over 1 percent to $3,120 per ounce after posting its biggest one-day gain in 18 months in the wake of abrupt shifts in U.S. tariff policy. Oil resumed losses after rebounding from a four-year low in the previous session.
Chinese stocks advanced as weak CPI and PPI data and tariff-related worries fueled expectations for more stimulus. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.2 percent to 3,223.64 ahead of a meeting of top leaders to discuss additional economic measures.
The onshore yuan fell to the weakest level since 2007 on increased bets for monetary easing measures by the People's Bank of China to support the economy.
Leading investment bank Goldman Sachs downwardly revised China real GDP growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026 to 4.0 percent and 3.5 percent, saying the easing measures that China may resort to are unlikely to fully offset the hit due to tariffs.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shot 2.1 percent to 20,681.78 as investors pinned their hopes on talks between the world's two largest economies and policy support from state firms.
Japanese markets led regional gains as chip-related stocks surged. Advantest spiked 13.7 percent and Tokyo Electron rallied 12.9 percent.
The Nikkei 225 Index soared 9.1 percent to 34,609 in its biggest daily gain since August 6. The broader Topix Index settled 8.1 percent higher at 2,539.40.
Seoul stocks joined a global rally on the U.S. tariff reprieve. The Kospi surged 6.6 percent to 2,445.06 after hitting a 17-month low the previous day.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 6.4 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK Hynix and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution both jumped over 11 percent.
Australian markets posted their biggest daily gain in five years, with buying seen across the board. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index spiked 4.5 percent to 7,709.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 4.7 percent higher at 7,913.90.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index jumped 3.3 percent to 12,201.43.
Europe
European stocks have soared on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher U.S. tariffs, with the exception of China.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Trump's move and said the halt on reciprocal tariffs is "an important step towards stabilizing the global economy," adding, "Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function."
ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau emphasized today that Trump's policies in recent weeks have eroded confidence in the U.S. dollar and praised Europe's foresight in establishing its own independent monetary system 25 years ago.
"Thank God that Europe… created the Euro," he noted, adding that the bloc now enjoys "monetary autonomy" that allows ECB to manage interest rates in a way that diverges from U.S. policy.
The German DAX Index is up by 5.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 4.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 4.0 percent.
Buying has been seen across the broad, with beaten-down banks, mining and energy stocks leading the surge.
Volkswagen has surged after announcing it has nearly doubled its all-electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries in Europe in the first quarter of 2025.
Meanwhile, Barry Callebaut shares have plummeted. The Swiss chocolate maker lowered its annual volume guidance, citing "unprecedented volatility" in cocoa bean prices.
Tesco has also slumped after the British food retailer said it expects to make lower profits this year amid intensifying competition in the market.
In economic news, U.K. housing market conditions weakened in March as demand faded following the end of the stamp duty holiday amid rising concerns about the economic outlook, survey data showed earlier today.
New buyer demand turned negative and hit the lowest since September 2023, the Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed. The index slid sharply to -32 percent in March from -16 percent in February.
U.S. Economic News
The Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a slight decrease by consumer prices in the U.S. in the month of March.
The report said the consumer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index crept up by 0.1 in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Core prices were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.4 in March from 2.8 percent in February. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.6 percent.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth also fell to 2.8 percent in March from 3.1 percent in February. Core price growth was expected to dip to 3.0 percent.
A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept slightly higher in the week ended April 5th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims inched up to 223,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 219,000. The uptick by initial jobless claims came in line economist estimates.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average of initial jobless claims was 223,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised average of 223,000.
At 9:30 am ET, Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan is due to give welcome remarks before a hybrid Outlook for North American Trade and Immigration event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook and monetary policy before the Secured Finance Network Independent Finance Roundtable 2025 at 10 am ET.
Also at 10 am ET, the Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a hearing on Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman's nomination to be Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month's auction of twenty-year bonds at 11 am ET.
At 12 pm ET, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before the Economic Club of New York.
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker is also scheduled to speak before the 2025 Fintech and Financial Institutions Research Conference at 12 pm ET.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month's auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.
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May 02, 2025 12:18 ET First quarter economic growth data and the latest purchasing managers’ survey results from several major economies dominated the economics news flow this week. Quarterly GDP data from the U.S. reflected the impact of the trade tariffs announced by the Trump administration. Inflation data based on the Fed’s preferred measure also attracted attention. In Asia, the Bank of Japan was in focus as the latest interest rate decision and macroeconomic projections were announced.