(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures ticked up on Monday, recovering some losses after the last session, with steelmakers leading the gains after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Trump’s latest trade escalation came on Sunday, when he said he would introduce new 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum into the United States, on top of existing duties on the metals.
U.S. Steel surged 9.7% in premarket trading after Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said Nippon Steel was considering proposing a bold change in its plan to buy the company.
Shares of other steelmakers also soared, with Cleveland-Cliffs jumping more than 12%, while Nucor added close to 10%. Aluminum producer Alcoa was up 6.2%.
Trump also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs on all countries on Tuesday or Wednesday, effective almost immediately, matching the tariffs levied by each country.
“Risky assets are getting a bit desensitized to Trump’s tariff announcement,” economists at Jefferies said in a note.
“(The tariffs) will cause volatility, are a negotiating tool and will eventually be not as bad as feared.”
At 04:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 122 points, or 0.27%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 21.5 points, or 0.36%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 116 points, or 0.54%.
Most megacap and growth stocks also edged higher, with Microsoft and Meta Platforms up about 0.6% each.
Earnings from Dow component McDonald’s are scheduled later in the day.
Coca-Cola, DoorDash, health insurer CVS Health and computer-networking equipment maker Cisco are some of the prominent companies that are expected to report results later this week.
All three major indexes had dropped about 1% each in the last session, nursing weekly losses after Trump said he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries.
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The January consumer price index reading is expected to be released in the early hours of Wednesday, before Powell’s testimony the same day.
Expectations for the Fed’s rate cuts to stay on hold in March solidified after Friday’s mixed U.S. employment report, with a 4.0% unemployment rate, which will probably give the central bank cover to hold off cutting interest rates at least until June.
Fed officials said on Friday that the U.S. job market is solid and pointed out the lack of clarity about how Trump’s policies would affect economic growth and still-high inflation.
Among other early movers, Wireless carrier T-Mobile said it had started wide-scale testing of its satellite-to-cell service, powered by SpaceX’s Starlink. Its shares rose 4.1%.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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