US equity markets were trending downwards before Thursday's opening bell as traders evaluated the shifting dynamics of President Donald Trump's international trade and tariff policies. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite experienced a decline of 1.3% in premarket activity.
In contrast, various Asian exchanges were on an upward trajectory, whereas most European bourses were showing downward trends by midday. In a noteworthy development on Wednesday, the Trump administration reportedly granted a one-month exemption from tariffs to automakers operating in Mexico and Canada.
Following this news, shares of Ford Motor, General Motors, and Stellantis, which are listed in the US, observed a rise by session's end on Wednesday but faced downward pressure in early Thursday trading. Additionally, Alibaba, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, recorded a 2.9% increase in its pre-bell trading as the Chinese e-commerce giant announced the launch of an artificial intelligence reasoning model on the X platform.
Conversely, Marvell Technology and MongoDB experienced declines of 16% and 18%, respectively, in the wake of their latest quarterly earnings results. JD.com saw its US-listed shares rise nearly 6% after announcing fourth-quarter results that surpassed market expectations. Other notable companies such as Kroger, Burlington Stores, BJ's Wholesale Club, Toro, Macy's, and GMS also released earnings reports early Thursday. Looking ahead, firms such as Broadcom, Costco Wholesale, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Guidewire Software, and Gap are scheduled to publish their financial results after the markets close later in the day. On the economic front, the Challenger Job Cut report for February is set to be released at 7:30 am ET.
This will be followed by the weekly jobless claims bulletin and reports on the international trade in goods and services for January, as well as revised productivity and costs for the fourth quarter of 2024 at 8:30 am. Investors are also awaiting the preliminary wholesale inventories report for January, which will be out at 10 am, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas supplies report at 10:30 am.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President, Patrick Harker, is scheduled to speak at 8:45 am, accompanied by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who will share insights at 3:30 pm. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is expected to address the audience at 7 pm. Before the opening bell, bitcoin saw a slight increase of 1.3%, trading at $91,390.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil nudged up by 0.1%, hitting $66.34 per barrel. The yields on 10-year Treasuries rose by 3.1 basis points, nearing 4.3%, while gold prices dipped by 0.5% to settle at $2,910 an ounce..