US Stocks Likely To Open Mixed As Trump Issues Tariff Letters: Experts Peg AI Investments As 'Durable Drivers Of Returns'

U.S. stock futures were fluctuating on Tuesday after trimming gains from their records on Monday. Futures of major benchmark indices were trading mixed.

President Donald Trump announced sweeping 25% tariffs on all imports from Japan and South Korea, and sent letters to a total of 14 countries, all posted on his Truth Social account, starting Aug. 1.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has since voiced his dissatisfaction with Trump's decision to impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from the country, calling it "truly regrettable."

The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.41% and the two-year bond was at 3.90%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 95.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its July meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was up 0.11% at $621.36, while the QQQ advanced 0.26% to $553.47, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

On Monday, consumer staples and utilities stocks defied a broader market downturn, closing higher, while most sectors on the S&P 500 finished in negative territory.

Consumer discretionary, materials, and energy stocks recorded the most significant losses, as U.S. stocks settled lower overall.

In corporate news, Cogent Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:COGT) announced positive topline results from Part 2 of the SUMMIT trial of bezuclastinib for non-advanced systemic mastocytosis, demonstrating clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements across primary and all key secondary endpoints.

Conversely, Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) shares experienced a decline of around 18% after CoreWeave revealed its intentions to acquire the company in an all-stock deal.

Insights From Analysts:

BlackRock shifted its investment focus from traditional macro anchors to “mega forces” like AI, believing these will be “durable drivers of returns in both the near and long term.”

This tactical change comes as long-term macro stability wanes, yet the firm sees no need to reduce risk. Instead, they view AI-related investments as a “new anchor for returns,” bolstered by “immutable economic laws” that limit rapid global change.

This strategy keeps BlackRock “risk on” and overweight U.S. equities, anticipating solid corporate earnings despite potential growth dents from tariffs or caution.

Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates said that tariffs are roiling markets again.

“Tariffs are back on the front burner as the July 9th deadline is upon us. Rumors abound on pending agreements, along with threats if trading partners aren’t responsive in a timely fashion. But after the first 90-day delay, expectations are that nothing particularly painful will persist for long, and that the saber rattling will continue,” he said.

Navellier also highlighted that since the date for actual tariff increases has been pushed to Aug. 1st, “For now, we’re seeing some modest hedging taking place today, which isn’t particularly painful given the recent new all-time highs in stocks.”

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Tuesday:

• June’s NFIB optimism index data will be out by 6:00 a.m. ET.
• May’s consumer credit data will be released by 3:00 p.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• Optical Cable Corp. (NASDAQ:OCC) surged 35.64% after announcing the strategic collaboration with Lightera, including an investment by Lightera resulting in a 7.24% ownership stake in OCC. This partnership aims to expand product offerings and integrated cabling solutions, particularly for the data center and enterprise sectors, with OCC handling sales.
• BioSig Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BSGM) jumped 27.27% following its merger with Streamex, securing up to $1.1 billion in growth financing to become a major public holder of gold bullion and tokenize the $142 trillion commodities market on the blockchain via Streamex’s RWA platform powered by Solana.
• Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ:TZUP) rose 4.12% after completing a registered direct public offering, raising approximately $6.04 million net by selling non-voting Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, with proceeds allocated for general corporate purposes and ad-tech operations.
• Helius Medical Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:HSDT) dropped 10.69% after reports that it plans to sell up to $25 million in common stock.
• Penguin Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:PENG) rose 2.01% in premarket on Tuesday as analysts expect it to report earnings of 33 cents per share on the revenue of $328.81 million after the closing bell.
• Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was up 0.23% as it is expected to report earnings after market close. Analysts estimate earnings of 93 cents per share on revenue of $32.29 million.
• Kura Sushi USA Inc. (NASDAQ:KRUS) advanced 1.62% as analysts expect it to report a quarterly loss of 1 cent per share on revenue of $71.83 million after the closing bell.
• Merit Medical Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) gained 0.97% after naming Martha Aronson as President and CEO and said it sees preliminary second-quarter revenue of $380 million to $384 million.
• Ascentage Pharma Group International ADR (NASDAQ:AAPG) was 0.29% above the flatline after naming Dr. Veet Misra as Chief Financial Officer and Eric Huang as Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Development and Finance.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.77% to hover around $67.41 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.31% to hover around $3,326.03 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was lower by 0.18% at the 97.3020 level.

Asian markets ended higher on Monday as South Korea's Kospi, India's S&P BSE Sensex, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Australia's ASX 200, Japan's Nikkei 225, and China’s CSI 300 indices rose. European markets were also higher in early trade.

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