Yesterday afternoon, President Trump announced a new 25% tariff on all vehicles not made in the United States and threatened to raise tariffs against Canada and the European Union if they work together to fight his tariffs. To some extent investors had been expecting another round of tough talk on tariffs as US indices fell 0.3% to 2.0% led downward by the NASDAQ yesterday.
This morning finds US index futures split between a 0.1% gain for Dow Futures and a 0.2% loss for NASDAQ futures. Europe is trading broadly lower with the Dax down 1.0%, and the FTSE down 0.7%. Auto stocks have been under pressure overnight and in premarket trading today, General Motors is down 5.5%, Stellantis is down 1.5% and Magna International is down 1.9%.
Ongoing concern about volatility and uncertainty over the tariff war has precious metals in rally mode again today. Gold is up 1.3% trading near $3,060/oz, Silver is up 1.7%, trading just below $35.00/oz. Major currency trading is mixed as the US Dollar is up against the Loonie and the Yen, but down against the Euro and the Pound. Commodities are a bit soft. Crude Oil is down 0.2% trading near $69.50/bbl, while Copper is down 0.2% trading near $5.25/lb.
US Q4 GDP was revised upward slightly to 2.4% just above the street estimate of 2.3%, while US Q4 inflation was revised down slightly to 2.3% slightly better than the 2.4% street estimate. US pending home sales are due at 10:00 am EDT. Lululemon and Walgreens Boots report results later today.