President Donald Trump announced during his first cabinet meeting that his administration would implement duties against Canada and Mexico. He further stated that a 25% tariff would be imposed on goods from the European Union, signaling an escalation in his trade war policies. This revelation comes as traders keenly anticipate the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, due on Friday.
In the stock market, the S&P 500 futures showed a slight increase of about 0.1% on Wednesday night, buoyed by Nvidia's strong earnings report. Nvidia's shares rose approximately 0.6%, driven by a 78% surge in quarterly revenue and a 114% increase in full fiscal-year revenue totaling $130.5 billion. The company exceeded expectations for its fourth-quarter performance and projected higher-than-anticipated first-quarter revenue.
Meanwhile, Salesforce reported adjusted earnings of $2.78 per share, surpassing analysts' projections of $2.61 per share. However, its revenue of $9.99 billion fell short of the forecasted $10.04 billion by LSEG, causing a dip in its share prices. Despite this, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%.
The S&P 500 barely managed to break its four-day losing streak with a marginal gain of 0.01% on Wednesday. Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped by 32 points, or nearly 0.1%. The 30-stock Dow dropped 188 points, translating to about a 0.4% decline, as market participants processed recent economic data that has stirred concerns over the U.S. economy's health.
A data cloud analytics company reported adjusted earnings of 30 cents per share on revenue of $987 million, outperforming analysts' expectations of 17 cents per share on revenue of $956 million, according to LSEG. These results highlight the ongoing volatility and mixed performance within the market.
"Caution is warranted. The remarkable strength of equities in recent months suggests that any downside should be approached with care," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.