U.S. stock futures are higher as investors eye President Donald Trump’s words on tariffs and minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Trump extended the deadline for a deal to avoid reciprocal tariffs to Aug 1 from July 9 and said he planned to put a 50% tariff on copper imports and maybe, an up to 200% levy on pharmaceuticals. Copper prices soared to record highs on the tariff news.
Separately, the Fed is slated to release the minutes of its last policy meeting and investors will look for what the discussion was around tariffs and its effect on inflation and the economy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many other Fed members have leaned towards waiting to see what level Trump’s tariffs will land and how they will affect inflation before deciding on the next interest rate move.
The Wall Street Journal said National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is now a serious contender to former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell as Fed chair.
At 6:47 a.m., futures linked to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.18%, or 80 points, to 44,592, while broad S&P 500 futures added 0.16%, or 10 points, to 6,282, and tech-heavy Nasaq futures gained 0.15%, or 35 points, to 22,931.75. The benchmark 10-year yield dipped to 4.409%.
Cryptocurrency
Japanese firm Metaplanet plans to use its bitcoin stash to make acquisitions, including possibly, a digital bank in Japan, according to the Financial Times.
Metaplanet started buying bitcoin to hedge against inflation in 2024. Now, it holds 15,555 bitcoin and aims to boost its holdings to more than 210,000 bitcoin by 2027.
Corporate news
UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices are being investigated by the Department of Justice’s criminal healthcare-fraud unit, according to the WSJ.
WWP said clients were pulling back on spending and the ad company lowered its annual profit outlook.
AES Corp is exploring its options, including a sale, Bloomberg reported.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures up, eyeing Trump tariffs and Fed meeting minutes
