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US stock futures steadied on Wednesday, holding near recent gains as investors looked to President Trump’s latest comments for more clarity on the scope of looming tariffs.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) traded broadly flat, following a third winning day in a row for the benchmark index. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) and on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were also little changed.
Stocks are on shifting sands as markets respond to changes in tone from Trump on coming tariffs. The major gauges rallied after Trump indicated on Friday and then again on Monday that he might be “flexible” or offer countries “breaks” in reciprocal duties set to take effect on April 2.
CBOT – Delayed Quote USD
As of 9:12:45 AM EDT. Market Open.
YM=F ES=F NQ=F
But Trump told Newsmax on Tuesday that he “doesn’t want to have too many exceptions” to the levies — a potential swing back to the hard line seen earlier in March. Those threats directed at the EU and Canada fueled a sell-off that pushed the S&P 500 into correction territory.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Meanwhile, the White House appears to be accelerating its plans for copper levies. Tariffs on copper imports could be coming within several weeks, months ahead of a deadline for implementing the measures, Bloomberg reported. Copper (HG=F) prices surged to a record on the heels of the news.
In corporates, GameStop (GME) stock jumped around 15% in premarket after the video game retailer’s approval of a plan to buy bitcoin (BTC-USD) with its cash holdings.
Dollar Tree’s (DLTR) shares were up almost 3% after a report the retailer is nearing a sale of its Family Dollar business for around $1 billion but pared earlier gains on the heels of a quarterly profit miss.
LIVE 6 updates
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Tesla stock falls 1.5% premarket, on track to snap 5-day win streak
Tesla stock (TSLA) looked poised to break its recent winning streak Wednesday, with shares of the electric vehicle maker down 1.5% in premarket trading.
Tesla has been battling a succession of concerns lately, including tumbling sales in Europe, tariff concerns, the growing unpopularity of CEO Elon Musk’s role in government, and protests at dealerships. As one crisis PR management expert told Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian of the controversy around Musk, “It’s almost impossible to be a politically divisive figure while running a consumer brand.”
Year to date, Tesla stock is now down 28%. But it has looked to stage a comeback. Over the past week, the stock is up just as much, surging 12% on Monday alone.
An all-hands meeting last week in which Musk assured the company (and investors) he is “back in the building” seemed to help the stock. And as Yahoo Finance’s Hamza’s Shaban wrote in today’s Morning Brief, Tesla’s biggest backers have largely kept the faith in what many consider a faith-based stock.
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Dollar Tree release earnings after announcing $1B Family Dollar sale
Shares in the low cost retailer, Dollar Tree (DLTR) rose by almost 3% on Wednesday before the bell, after the company released it’s earnings and announced plans to sell its Family Dollar business to a consortium of private-equity investors for $1 billion.
The discount-retail chain, which Dollar Tree bought in 2015 for about $9 billion, will be acquired by Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management.
Dollar Tree also reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday. Net sales increased 4.7% to $17.6 billion. Dollar Tree’s same-store sales increased 1.8%, driven by a 1.6% increase in traffic and a 0.1% increase in average ticket.
Gross profit increased 4.5% to $6.3 billion and gross margin was flat at 35.8%.
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Copper surges to a record on report that tariffs are weeks away
Copper (HG=F) prices surged to a record high in New York on the heels of a Bloomberg report that Trump may be just weeks away from implementing tariffs on the industrial metal.
Futures on the Comex touched an all-time high of $5.374 a pound earlier on Wednesday and were last trading at around $5.261.
Traders have been trying to front-run potential US duties on copper imports, causing a huge wave of demand that has spurred a roaring rally for the metal.
Bloomberg reports:
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Barclays becomes latest Wall Street bank to slash its outlook on stocks
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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GameStop stock pops after company confirms plans to buy bitcoin
GameStop (GME) stock continued to gain on Wednesday and rose 13% in premarket trading after the company approved a plan to purchase bitcoin (BTC-USD) with its cash holdings.
Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:
