Wall Street was expected to open higher Thursday as markets showed little reaction to the new U.S. tariffs on imports that started early Thursday.
Futures for major indexes were up: S&P 500 rose 0.6%, Dow Jones gained 0.5%, and Nasdaq climbed 0.7%.
Though the U.S. trade policies have caused some uncertainty and slowed economic growth, investors are hopeful that interest rate cuts will help balance the impact. Strong earnings reports from several companies also helped stabilize the market.
Food delivery app DoorDash jumped 9% after beating profit expectations and raising revenue guidance. Its shares have gained 66% this year.
Meanwhile, drugmaker Eli Lilly’s shares fell 7% despite strong earnings due to concerns over side effects from a weight-loss drug study.
Airbnb’s stock dropped 6% after reporting better-than-expected sales but lowered profit forecasts for the rest of the year.
Language app Duolingo surged 25% after beating profit targets, with subscription revenue rising 46% year-over-year.
Later Thursday, new government data on jobless claims will be released, which gives insight into layoffs following a disappointing July jobs report.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 1.7%, Paris’s CAC 40 gained 1.3%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.8% after the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4% to support the slowing economy.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7%, and China’s Shanghai Composite increased 0.2%, helped by stronger exports in July.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.9%, but Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1%. India’s Sensex dropped 0.8% after Trump raised tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, citing its purchases of Russian oil.
Trump also announced 100% tariffs on computer chips but exempted companies investing in U.S. production. This helped boost shares of Apple, which said it will increase U.S. investments by $100 billion.
Taiwan’s stock market jumped 2.4%, led by chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor, which is expanding its U.S. factories and benefiting from the tariff exemption. South Korean chipmakers also gained, with Samsung rising 2.5%.
In energy markets, U.S. crude oil rose slightly to $64.58 per barrel, and Brent crude increased to $67.17 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, while the euro weakened slightly against the dollar.
