Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid lingering uncertainty about President Donald Trump's trade policies.

Trump on Monday signed an executive order officially extending the suspension of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

The executive order says the 90-day suspension, which was due to expire on Wednesday, has been extended until August 1st based on "additional information and recommendations from various senior officials."

However, Trump also said the new tariff deadline is "not 100 percent firm," adding, "If they call up and they say something a different way, we're going to be open to that."

The move comes after Trump posted several letters to world leaders on Truth Social threatening to impose higher tariffs on at least fourteen countries.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

The Fed minutes may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the central bank's next meeting on July 29-30.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 95.3 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged later this month.

Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday, giving back ground after moving sharply higher over the past several sessions. The major averages moved to the downside in early trading and slid more firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels of the day but still notably lower. The Dow tumbled 422.17 points or 0.9 percent to 44,406.36, the Nasdaq slumped 188.59 points or 0.9 percent to 20,412.52 and the S&P 500 slid 49.37 points or 0.8 percent to 6,229.98.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflect profited taking following the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions.

Stocks rallied last Thursday following the release of stronger than expected jobs data, lifting the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.

Further selling pressure was generated in afternoon trading after President Donald Trump shared screen shots on Truth Social of letter sent to various world leaders about new tariffs set to be imposed on August 1st.

Imports from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Kazakhstan are now set to face 25 percent tariffs, according to the letters Trump posted.

South African imports will be subject to a 30 percent tariff, while imports from Laos and Myanmar will face a 40 percent tariff, Trump's letters showed.

"What's troubling investors is Trump potentially moving the goalposts yet again," said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. "He has form in constantly coming up with new terms and conditions and has now threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries who align themselves with 'anti-American policies' of BRICS nations."

"He also suggests some tariffs could reach up to 70%, greater than the previous maximum amount on the Liberation Day menu," he added. "Investors would much prefer one set of rules and for the Trump administration to stick to them."

Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plunging by 2.2 percent after ending the previous session at its best closing level in over four months.

Significant weakness was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent slump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Airline, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable weakness, while gold stocks bucked the downtrend.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are slipping $0.06 to $67.87 a barrel after surging $0.93 to $67.93 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after edging down $0.20 to $3,357.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are dipping $5 to $3,337.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.58 yen compared to the 146.05 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1722 compared to yesterday's $1.1709.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump gave an additional three-week grace period for tariff negotiations after unveiling new tariff rates for 14 trading partners.

The dollar fell, while gold was steady as investors weighed Trump's new tariff threats and global growth risks. Oil traded lower after a decision by OPEC+ to restore more idled capacity.

China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7 percent to 3,497.48, with banks rallying as investors hunted for yield. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1 percent to 24,148.07.

A weaker yen lifted Japanese stocks, with the Nikkei 225 Index closing up 0.3 percent at 39,688.81, led by chip-related stocks. The broader Topix Index settled 0.2 percent higher at 2,816.54. Honda Motor rose 0.8 percent and Advantest gained 2.5 percent.

Nissan Motor plunged 6.4 percent to extend losses for a third consecutive session on reports it is in talks with Taiwan's Foxconn to let the electronics giant produce electric vehicles at a Japanese plant.

Seoul stocks extended gains for a second consecutive session, with the Kospi surging 1.8 percent to 3,114.95, brushing off uncertainties over U.S. tariff policies.

Financial and energy shares topped the gainers list, with Hana Financial Group surging 10.3 percent, Woori Financial rallying 8.3 percent and Korea Electric Power climbing 4.5 percent.

Samsung Electronics dipped half a percent after it projected a far worse than expected 56 percent plunge in second-quarter operating profit.

Australian markets fluctuated before ending marginally higher as the Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates at 3.85 percent in an unexpected move and a survey showed Australia's business sentiment improved sharply in June.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.7 percent to 12,859.02 on optimism over potential trade deals.

Europe

European shares are little changed on Tuesday as investors weigh U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans and global growth risks.

Trump on Monday announced plans to impose significantly higher tariffs on imports from 14 countries starting August 1. Originally set for July 9, the deadline has now been extended to August 1.

The EU is reportedly seeking exemptions from the baseline 10 percent U.S. tariff currently in place.

In economic news, Germany's exports declined for the second straight month in May due to the sharp fall in demand from the U.S. amid tariff threats, data from Destatis revealed earlier today.

Exports decreased by more-than-expected 1.4 percent on a monthly basis in May, following April's 1.6 percent fall. Imports slid 3.8 percent from last month, in contrast to the 2.2 percent increase in April.

While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In corporate news, Hansa Biopharma AB has moved to the upside after appointing Richard Philipson as its new chief medical officer.

Basilea has also jumped after receiving $39 million in funding under the BARDA agreement to advance antifungals Fosmanogepix and BAL2062.

On the other hand, Victrex has moved sharply lower after announcing a new CEO and reporting lower third quarter revenue.

U.S. Economic News

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auction of $58 billion worth of three-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 3 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release its report on consumer credit in the month of May. Consumer credit is expected to increase by $11.5 billion in May after climbing by $17.9 billion in April.