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Futures: Dow down 0.41%, S&P 500 down 0.13%, Nasdaq up
0.31%
April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures struggled
on Wednesday after a heavy sell-off in the previous session, as
President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff took effect,
deepening worries about their damage to the global economy.
As hopes of concessions faded and tariffs on dozens of
countries, including a massive 104% duties on Chinese goods,
came into force, investors accelerated their exit from stocks
and industrial commodities.
Prospects of tariff deals had lifted U.S. equities on
Tuesday, though gains were not sustained and all three major
indexes closed down.
Since Trump unveiled his tariffs last Wednesday, the S&P 500
has shed more than $5.83 trillion in market value and
will confirm a bear market, if it closes more than 20% below its
record high. As of last close, it was down 19% from its peak.
At 04:52 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 155 points,
or 0.41%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 6.75 points, or
0.13% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 53.25 points, or
0.31%.
"By announcing sweeping tariffs, the U.S. is fundamentally
changing its role in the global trading order," John Velis,
Americas macro strategist at BNY said in a note.
The CBOE Volatility index - seen as Wall Street's
'fear gauge' - was last at 49.1 points, hovering nearing its
highest since August.
Most megacap and growth stocks though ticked higher in
premarket trading, with Tesla and Nvidia ( NVDA )
leading the pack with a more than 2% jump each.
Meanwhile, government bond yields rose and prices dropped
as rising fears of a U.S. recession boosted expectations of
interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The yield on the 10-year note briefly jumped to
its highest level since February and was last at 4.34%.
Traders see more than 100 basis points of easing by the
December, implying four fully priced-in 25-basis-points cuts,
according to LSEG data.
Minutes from the Fed's March policy meeting are due later in
the day, while a consumer price inflation reading is set for
Thursday, which could offer more clues on the inflation
trajectory.
Bucking the trend, U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms saw
robust gains, tracking advances in their domestic peers as state
holding companies and Chinese brokerages continued to support
the market.
E-commerce giant Alibaba gained 7% and Temu-parent
PDD Holdings advanced 3.5%, while the iShares MSCI China
ETF added 5.8%.