Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday evening, tracking a negative session on Wall Street following mildly stronger-than-expected June inflation data and persistent concerns over President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
Wall Street took limited support from a host of strong bank earnings, as major U.S. lenders struck a cautious tone on the economic outlook. Focus is now on more major earnings in the coming days.
Technology stocks were sitting on some gains, as chipmakers surged on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) stating that it will be allowed to resume sales of a key artificial intelligence chip in China. But this was offset by losses in most other sectors.
S&P 500 Futures fell 0.3% to 6,268.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.3% to 22,991.50 points by 19:26 ET (23:26 GMT). Dow Jones Futures fell 0.2% to 44,147.0 points.
Wall St rattled by sticky inflation, tariff jitters
Wall Street indexes mostly closed lower on Tuesday as broad-based losses largely offset some strength in technology stocks. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite briefly hit record highs, but ended well below their intraday peaks.
Consumer price index data showed inflation picking up slightly more than expected in June, sparking concerns over the inflationary effects of Trump’s tariffs, and furthering bets that the Federal Reserve will keep rates unchanged in the near-term.
Uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs also remained squarely in play. Trump on Tuesday evening said his threatened 200% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports will come by the month-end, when his other proposed trade levies are set to take effect.
The president announced a host of steep trade tariffs against major U.S. trading partners, most recently a 30% levy against Mexico and the European Union. The EU decried the move and was seen preparing to tariff several American industries, including automobiles and alcohol.
Economic uncertainty, coupled with a mixed reaction to some major bank earnings, saw Wall Street end well below recent peaks on Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 6,243.71 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.2% to 20,677.80 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1% to 44,022.89 points.
Q2 earnings season to pick up this week
Wall Street marked a largely mixed reaction to a host of bank and financial earnings released on Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM ), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C ), and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC ) all beat profit expectations for Q2, with strong consumer and investment banking trends supporting income.
But bank executives expressed increased caution over the economic outlook for the second half of the year. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon flagged “significant risks” from trade tariffs, and also warned about the rising fiscal deficit.
Shares of the country’s biggest bank fell nearly 1%.
Wells Fargo cut its net interest income forecast, sending its shares down over 6%. But Citi’s shares jumped 5% to a near 17-year high after the bank announced a $4 billion buyback.
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC ), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS ), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS ) are set to report Q2 earnings on Wednesday, as are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ) and chip industry bellwether ASML Holding NV (AS: ASML ).
Other Wall Street majors including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM ), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX ), and GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE ) will report earnings later in the week.