US Stock Futures Surge Higher As Traders Cheer EU Tariff Pause, But Fund Manager Signals Caution Ahead

U.S. stock futures point to a higher start when the market reopens for trading on Tuesday following the Memorial Day long weekend. Optimism over the Trump administration striking trade deals with major trading partners has perked up risk appetite.

As of 12:51 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow and Russell 2000 futures were up 0.90%, 0.94%, 0.84 and 0.98%, respectively.

President Donald Trump confirmed over the weekend that he has extended the implementation of 50% tariffs on the European Union until July 9 to allow time for negotiations. At the same time, India media outlets reported that high-level talks between two countries have picked up steam with an eye on a trade truce.

Crude oil and gold futures pulled back moderately, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped 2.6 basis points early Tuesday to 4.485%. The yield surged up past 4.60% level, pressured by the Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was weaker against most major counterparts.

The unfolding holiday-shortened week has several market-moving economic events/catalysts on its calendar. The chief among them are the April personal income and spending report, which includes an inflation measure considered the Fed’s favorite pricing gauge, a couple of consumer sentiment readings, and the weekly jobless claims report.

The week will also witness speeches by several Federal Reserve officials and the minutes of the May central bank rate-setting meeting.

On Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to speak in Tokyo at 4 a.m. ET.

The Commerce Department will release the durable goods orders report for April at 8:30 a.m. ET

S&P Global will release the CoreLogic house price index for March at 9 a.m. ET, while the Federal House Finance Agency’s house price index is also due simultaneously.

The Conference Board is set to release its May consumer confidence index at 10 a.m. ET. The consensus expects the index to remain unchanged at the depressed ‘86’ level.

Among the key earnings due for the day are those from AutoZone (AZO), PDD Holdings (PDD), Box (BOX), Okta (OKTA) and Semtech (SMTC).

Stocks closed the week ended May 23 on a dull note, dragged down by Moody’s downgrade, ongoing tariff uncertainties, and worries about fiscal indiscipline following the House's passing of Trump’s tax bill.

The S&P 500 Index fell 2.6% to 5,802.82, reversing from the previous week’s gain. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.5% each.

According to fund manager Louis Navellier, tariffs will continue to be a source of major uncertainty until meaningful agreements are struck. But he remained hopeful of a resolution. “The hope seems to be that most will be similar to the UK, where the actual tariffs are minimized in exchange for more open markets,” he added.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) are now down 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively, for the week.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) has lost 1.7%, and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) is down a steeper 8.1%.

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