Major U.S. stock futures indicate a mostly steady start to Tuesday’s trading session, with investors showing caution after modest gains in the previous day’s market close.
Traders are holding back from making aggressive moves as the August 1 deadline for President Donald Trump’s proposed “reciprocal tariffs” approaches, injecting uncertainty into the market.
Stocks opened the week on a positive note Monday, climbing steadily throughout much of the day before retreating slightly toward the closing bell.
Despite this late pullback, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended the day at record highs.
The Nasdaq rose 78.52 points (0.4%) to finish at 20,974.17, while the S&P 500 gained 8.81 points (0.1%) to close at 6,305.60. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 19.12 points, less than 0.1%, ending at 44,323.07.
Optimism over potential trade deals helped fuel early gains. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News that he believes the U.S. and European Union are “the two biggest trading partners in the world, talking to each other,” and expressed confidence a deal will be reached.
“These are the two biggest trading partners in the world, talking to each other. We’ll get a deal done,” Lutnick said. “I am confident we’ll get a deal done.”
However, Lutnick also warned that the August 1 deadline is firm for the implementation of tariffs, saying, “Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1st, but they’re going to start paying the tariffs on August 1st.”
As the day wore on, buying interest slowed as investors turned their focus to earnings reports due this week from major companies including Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).
On the economic side, the Conference Board reported a slightly larger-than-expected drop in its leading indicators for June, declining 0.3% compared to economists’ forecast of 0.2%.
Despite the broad market’s softness, gold-related stocks surged, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumping 3.8% amid a rise in gold prices.
Steel stocks also posted gains, as the NYSE Arca Steel Index climbed 2.5%.
Meanwhile, telecom and retail shares showed modest strength, while natural gas and biotech sectors pulled back notably.
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