U.S. stocks appear set for a positive opening on Wednesday as President Donald Trump gets ready to send out more tariff letters to countries with the White House seeking to enforce the July 9 deadline for trade negotiations.
This comes after President Trump slapped 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Japan and South Korea, and 12 other countries, starting August 1.
In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the President also said he will announce copper tariffs, and expressed his dislike for solar and wind power.
While Dow Jones futures edged up by 0.17% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100’s futures gained 0.14% on Wednesday morning. Futures of the Russell 2000 index edged up by 0.02%.
Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.17% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was up 0.14%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits has been in the ‘bullish’ territory over the past week.
Asian markets ended Wednesday’s trading session on a mixed note, with the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index leading with gains of 0.73%, followed by KOSPI at 0.6%, and the Nikkei 225 at 0.33%.
The Hang Seng index fell 1.07%, while the Shanghai Composite declined 0.13%.
Stocks To Watch
- Freeport-McMoran Inc. (FCX): Freeport shares surged over 2% in Wednesday’s pre-market trading session after President Trump said he would impose 50% tariffs on copper imports.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has reportedly picked up a minority stake in Franco-Italian eyewear giant. The two companies have already launched Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses.
- UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH): Shares of UnitedHealth fell nearly 1.7% during Wednesday’s pre-market session after the Justice Department reportedly launched an investigation into the company’s billing practices.
- Novo Nordisk (NVO), AstraZeneca Plc. (AZN), Sanofi (SNY): Shares of the three pharma giants will be in focus on Wednesday after President Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
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Also See: Sunrun, Enphase, First Solar Stocks Tumble After Trump Calls Wind, Solar Power ‘Stupid’ And ‘Ugly’