Stock futures rose on Thursday evening, as traders chose to focus on the upcoming US payrolls report, looking past the week’s trade policy concerns that have shaken the market.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 96 points, or 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures advanced nearly 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.
This follows a turbulent session on Thursday, where major indices fell back into sell-off mode, spurred by ongoing uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. The Dow lost over 400 points, and the Nasdaq Composite entered correction territory, closing more than 10% below its recent peak.
Market volatility has increased amid concerns that Trump’s trade policies could negatively impact US economic growth. Despite Trump’s announcement on Thursday that goods from Canada and Mexico covered by the North American trade agreement (USMCA) would be exempt from new tariffs until April 2, this move did little to trigger a recovery rally like Wednesday’s.
“Markets are all over the place trying to price tariff impacts, which is really hard to do when the goalpost moves, disappears, and morphs by the second,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
The latest downturn is positioning the three major indices for their worst week since September 2024. As of Thursday, the S&P 500 had fallen 3.6% week-to-date, the Dow was down 2.9%, and the Nasdaq led the declines, down 4.1%.
All eyes are now on February’s nonfarm payrolls report, expected to offer a clearer picture of the economy’s health. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones predict a growth of 170,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate expected to hold steady at 4%.
