Morning Watchlist: Auto Tariffs Brings Volatility
U.S. Stock Futures are relatively flat ahead of the Wall Street open as traders digest yesterday’s tariff announcement. Late Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced plans to add a 25% tariff on auto imports and suggested further duties on the EU and Canada, expanding the potential of a trade war. The president said both where the car parts come from and where the finished production occurs will “have very strong policing.” The tariff headlines hit stocks on Wednesday with all three major indices in the red, led by a steep decline in Tech. Surprisingly, equities have rebounded from Wednesday’s post-market lows that may signal negotiations will ease the brunt of the levies. Focus today will continue to be on tariffs ahead on next Wednesday’s ‘Liberation Day’ along with jobless claims data and the second revision to Q4 GDP.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are slightly lower near $69.50 a barrel on concerns about tighter global supply after the U.S. tariff threat on Venezuelan oil buyers.
• Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are up over 1% near $3090, a new record high, as U.S. auto tariffs ratcheted up global trade tensions ahead of an April 2 deadline .
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – Bitcoin Future is up nearly 1% near $87.2K in the premarket.
• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index rose 6.9% on Wednesday and settled at 18.33 as stocks sold off
Economic Data
Time Event
8:30 AM ET GDP – Final for Q4
8:30AM ET Jobless Claims
8:30 AM ET Intl. Trade in Goods
8:30 AM ET Retail/Wholesale Inventories
10:00 AM ET Pending Home Sales
11:00 AM ET Kansas City Fed Mfg. Index
Earnings
Premarket Post Market Premarket Tomorrow Post Market Tomorrow
BITF, SNX, WGO AIR, LULU, OXM N/A N/A
Upgrades/Downgrades
• RBC Capital upgrades Northrop Grumman (NOC) to Outperform from Sector Perform
• Bank of America upgrades Check point (CHKP) to Buy from Neutral
• Jefferies downgrades Advance Micro Devices (AMD) to Hold from Buy
• RBC Capital downgrades Lockheed Martin (LMT) to Sector Perform from Outperform
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