By Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap
(Reuters) -Wall Street futures were mixed on Thursday as investors sifted through a flurry of earnings from heavyweights like Alphabet and Tesla, all while keeping a watchful eye on U.S. trade negotiations.
Google-parent Alphabet ramped up its spending plans to about $85 billion, brushing aside trade jitters, while Tesla struck a somber note, with Elon Musk bracing investors for “a few rough quarters” amid shrinking EV subsidies.
Alphabet’s shares rose 3.4% in premarket trading, while Tesla fell 5.9%.
By 7:18 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 4 points, or 0.06%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 73 points, or 0.31%, and Dow E-minis were down 193 points, or 0.43%.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared to record closes on Wednesday, while the Dow hovered just below its all-time peak. Investors cheered reports that said a U.S.-European Union trade deal could be reached soon, while an EU spokesperson signaled that a deal was “within reach”.
Diplomats said the deal would result in 15% import tariffs on the bloc.
After weeks of speculation, fresh signs of progress emerged when President Donald Trump unveiled a deal with Japan, cutting tariffs on the Asian country’s goods to just 15%. Meanwhile, China and South Korea are also racing to strike agreements and sidestep Trump’s steep duties.
“A U.S. tariff agreement with Japan has increased market confidence that the worst of the global trade conflict could be over, adding to hopes of a deal with the European Union,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer, UBS Global Wealth Management.
Even as trade optimism lifts the markets, a note of caution lingered as Wall Street giants like General Motors were starting to feel the sting of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
American Airlines fell 3.3% after forecasting a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss, hurt by sluggish domestic travel demand.
IBM slid 5.9% as its second-quarter earnings failed to impress investors, especially due to its lower-than-expected sales in its mainstay software segment.
Honeywell slipped 1.4% despite raising its annual forecasts after beating Wall Street expectations for second-quarter results.
Shares of ServiceNow jumped 7% after the software firm raised its annual subscription revenue forecast.
Markets were also monitoring developments after the White House surprised investors that Trump – fresh from stepping up his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell – would pay a visit to the U.S. central bank’s headquarters later in the day.
With the Fed widely expected to keep rates steady at next week’s meeting, traders are now eyeing a 62% chance of a September rate cut, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Later in the day, investors will parse weekly jobless claims and S&P Global’s flash PMI data to examine the health of the economy amid tariff uncertainties.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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