US stock futures lower as investors mull more Trump tariffs
President Donald Trump pushes Fed to lower interest rates
President Donald Trump sent a note to the Fed chair asking him to lower interest rates.
U.S. stock futures are lower as investors mull more tariffs from President Donald Trump.
Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country would respond.
The levy on Brazil comes after Trump sent letters with new U.S. rates on the imports of at least seven additional countries. Earlier this week, he sent letters to 14 other countries, such as Japan and South Korea. These tariffs would go into effect Aug. 1 if the countries do not agree to a trade deal.
The European Union expects to reach an outline trade agreement with the U.S. this week.
At 6:15 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow fell -0.18%; while broad S&P 500 futures slipped -0.12% and tech-heavy Nasdaq futures dropped -0.09%.
Stocks closed higher, with the Nasdaq closing at a record high as Nvidia briefly reached a $4 trillion valuation, and Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes fueled hopes that inflation pressures from tariffs would not derail interest rate cuts this year. The minutes showed most Fed members expected price increases from tariffs to be “temporary or modest.”
Jobless claims data for the week ending July 5 is due before the bell. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting an increase of 2,000 to 235,000 from the previous week.
Corporate news
- WK Kellogg is close to being bought by chocolate maker Ferrero for about $3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources. The acquisition could be finalized as early as this week, the WSJ said.
- Delta Air Lines is slated to report quarterly results before the market opens.
Cryptocurrency
Donald Trump Jr. purchased 350,000 shares in social media company Thumzup Media Corp for more than $4 million. Thumzp Media recently adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy and now holds more than $2 million worth of bitcoin.
Separately, Apple has approved the first iOS game allowing players can spend small amounts of bitcoin for in-game extras. Payments go through ZBD’s technology, which handles fast, low-cost payments without leaving the app.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
