All three major indexes are trading around fair value this morning
Stock futures are struggling for direction this morning, as investors react to the latest tariff rhetoric. Last night, President Donald Trump announced 25% auto tariffs on all cars not made in the U.S., effective April 2, while also threatening "far larger" tariffs on the European Union (EU) and Canada, should the two unite against the U.S. Trump also noted he may be lenient on China tariffs to help move along a deal involving ByteDance and TikTok.
Elsewhere, weekly jobless claims came in at 224,000, slightly lower than the 225,000 estimates, while the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in February. Lastly, gross domestic product (GDP) data for the fourth quarter grew 2.4%.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.6 million call contracts and 1.2 million put contracts exchanged on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.71, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.60.
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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) stock is 1.3% higher before the bell, after the China-based tech giant yesterday unveiled a new open-source artificial intelligence (AI) model. BABA is 56% higher in 2025, and hit a three-year high of $148.43 on March 17.
- Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) stock is down 10.7% ahead of the open, after the software company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst expectations. Three brokerages trimmed their price targets in response, the worst coming from RBC to $29 from $36. Heading into today, VRNT was down 21.2%.
- The shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) are up 4.2% in electronic trading, after the oil services company was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal-weight" at Morgan Stanley. Citing power demand growth, the analyst in coverage also hiked its price target to $25 from $20. Over the past 12 months, the equity has shed 22%.
- Tomorrow will be a massive day for economic data.
Overseas Markets React to Auto Tariff Threats
Asian markets finished the day mixed as investors focused on Trump auto tariffs. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said nothing is off the table in how to deal with the imposed 25% levy, and the region’s Nikkei shed 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4% thanks to a lift in tech, while China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%, brushing off a drop in industrial profits to 0.3% for January and February. Lastly, South Korea’s Kospi suffered a 1.4% drop.
Tariff tensions are weighing heavily in Europe. Auto stocks guided indexes lower, brushing off a pop in the retail sector. London’s FTSE 100 was last seen down 0.6%, while the French CAC and German DAX drop 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.