Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on February 03, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell into the red Thursday after President Donald Trump said Canada and Mexico tariffs would go on as planned and an additional tariff would be placed on China.
Losses were limited as Nvidia shares advanced following better-than-expected quarterly results.
Dow futures ticked down 26 points, or 0.06%, after trading higher for most of the overnight session. Futures tied to the S&P 500 added 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.7%, aided by Nvidia.
Trump in a post on Truth Social said the proposed tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada will take effect on March 4 because the countries had yet to curb the flow of drugs over the border by enough. The president added that an additional 10% tariff on China would be added on top of the 10% levy already in place.
Nvidia rose 1.8% after the chip giant exceeded fourth-quarter estimates on the top and bottom lines, easing some concerns that the AI trade was in trouble. The company issued strong guidance, reflecting continued demand driven by the artificial intelligence race.
Other tech shares also gained on Thursday following Nvidia’s strong results. Broadcom and Tesla climbed around 2.3%. each.
“Although revenue growth has decelerated, Nvidia’s 78% YoY increase remains impressive given its scale, underscoring strong demand for AI infrastructure,” said Ido Caspi, research analyst at Global X. “This robust performance should similarly alleviate investor concerns about potential slowdowns stemming from emerging competitors like DeepSeek.”
Besides Trump’s tariff declaration, a jump in jobless claims also weighed on sentiment by adding to recent concerns of economic softening. Jobless claims for the week ending Feb. 22 came in at 242,000. This was up 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, according to a Labor Department report Thursday.
This comes on the back of several other recent economic reports — including a softer-than-expected consumer confidence reading, disappointing retail sales numbers and a weak consumer sentiment reading — which have rattled stocks and raised worries about the health of the U.S. economy.
Traders are now looking ahead to Friday’s personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
The S&P 500 traded barely above the flatline on Wednesday ending its four-day streak of losses. The 30-stock Dow dropped 188 points, or about 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.3%. With just two trading sessions left in February, all three major averages are on pace to finish lower. The broad market index has dropped 1.4%, while the Dow and the Nasdaq have declined more than 2% each.