US stock futures rose Thursday ahead of a key inflation report and a looming trade deadline that will set tariff rates higher for most goods coming into the United States.
Dow futures rose 80 points, or 0.2%. The Dow had been hovering near a record high for days, but it fell sharply Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cast some doubt on the likelihood of a looming rate cut in September.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.8% and Nasdaq futures, buoyed by strong earnings from Meta and Microsoft, gained 1.2%. Microsoft is set to open at a valuation of $4 trillion, the second company to accomplish that feat, after Nvidia.
Stocks have largely been ignoring Trump’s trade war after the market plunged into bear market territory in April. But since then repeated pauses on tariffs, several trade agreements and a healthier-than-expected economy have given investors some confidence that the trade war poses less of a threat to markets and the economy than previously believed.
However, economists still largely expect tariffs to slow the economy and raise inflation in the second half of the year.