U.S. stock futures fell Monday as traders looked ahead to “Liberation Day” for clarity on President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 292 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures dipped 0.9% and 1.3%, respectively. Investors were in a risk-off mood again early Monday, selling the tech bull market winners like Nvidia, Tesla and Meta. A slew of tariffs previously announced by the Trump administration will go into effect on Wednesday — what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — including a 25% levy on “all cars that are not made in the United States.” The president is also expected to announce his plan for reciprocal duties aimed at countries that impose tariffs on U.S. imports. Uncertainty surrounding tariffs has weighed on equities, dragging stocks lower on Friday to end the last full trading week of March. Trump did little to assuage fears over the weekend, with The Wall Street Journal reporting Sunday that the president had in recent days pushed his advisors to get more aggressive when it comes to tariffs. In a Saturday interview with NBC News, Trump said that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raise their prices due to these new tariffs. Auto stocks were lower on Monday. Ford Motor and General Motors were down around 1% in the premarket, while Stellantis shed nearly 3%. On top of that, Trump said the levies will target all countries rather than a small group with trade imbalances with the U.S. Worry over U.S. trade policy has kept expectations for Wall Street’s gross domestic product growth outlook while also stoking concern about stagflation conditions. “Tariff risk has been well telegraphed and is largely priced in corners of the market. So liberation day may not be a complete shocker. However, no one wins from trade war, and clouds are gathering over the global growth outlook,” Barclays equity strategist Emmanuel Cau wrote in a Friday note. “Negotiations will likely start after April 2, which leads to an extended period of uncertainty about the final scope, level and timing of tariffs.” Monday marks the final day of what has been a tumultuous month and quarter for Wall Street. The S&P 500 dipped into correction territory in March after hitting a record in February. It was 9.2% below its all-time high through Friday’s close. The S&P 500 is down more than 6% for the month, on pace for its biggest one-month slide since September 2022, when it dropped 9.3%. The Nasdaq has lost 8% in March, while the Dow has fallen 5.2%. For the quarter, the S&P 500 was down 5.1%. That puts it on pace to snap a five-quarter winning streak. The Nasdaq has lost 10.3% this quarter, which would mark its biggest quarterly pullback since a 22.4% plunge in the second quarter of 2022. The Dow has shed 2.3% in the first three months of 2025. Investors will also be looking forward to a heavy slate of economic data this week, most notably the March jobs report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, April 4. Treasury yields were lower on Monday as investors braced for a week in which U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs come into force, while key jobs data will also be released. At 5:52 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by over 6 basis points at 4.194%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last 6 basis points lower at 3.85%. Asia-Pacific markets plunged Monday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh round of tariffs expected later in the week, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 entering correction territory. The benchmark Nikkei index plunged 4.05% to end the day at 35,617.56, losing nearly 12% from its December high. The broader Topix index lost 3.57% to 2,658.73. Over in South Korea, the Kospi index closed 3% lower at 2,481.12 while the small-cap Kosdaq declined 3.01% to 672.85, with the markets regulator allowing short-selling Monday after the longest ban on the activity in the country’s history. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 1.74% lower at 7,843.40, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates at 4.1% as the country heads to the polls on May 3. Mainland China’s CSI 300 lost 0.71% to close at 3,887.31 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.09% as of its final hour of trade. China’s NBS Manufacturing PMI for March came in at 50.5, in line with predictions by economists polled by Reuters and slightly higher than 50.2 reading in the previous month. Indian markets were closed for a public holiday. Oil prices rose in choppy trade on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil and warned Iran of possible military action if it did not agree to a deal over its nuclear program. The more active June Brent crude futures rose 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $72.94 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $69.55 a barrel. Front-month Brent, which was up 54 cents, or 0.7%, at $74.17, expires later on Monday. Both benchmarks were on track to end the month higher. Gold prices surged above $3,100 per ounce on Monday to a record high, as worries about potential inflation due to U.S. tariffs set the safe-haven asset up for its strongest quarter since 1986. Bullion continued its remarkable rally that has already seen the metal gain around 18% so far this year. Spot gold jumped 1.1% to $3,117.43 per ounce, having hit a record $3,128.06 earlier. U.S. gold futures were up 1.1% to $3,149.60. Bullion rose more than 27% last year as several bullish factors, including a favourable monetary policy backdrop and robust central bank buying, combined to send investors towards the safe-haven asset.
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