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Futures up: Dow 0.57%, S&P 500 0.63%, Nasdaq 0.74%
March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on
Wednesday, bouncing back from a selloff in the previous session,
after a top official said President Donald Trump could ease
tariffs he has imposed on the country's top trade partners.
Late on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said
Trump, who has imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, is
considering granting some relief on imports, such as cars and
autoparts, that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free-trade
agreement.
In premarket trading, Ford rose 2.6%, General Motors ( GM )
added 5.4% and Tesla gained 1.8%, after logging
sharp declines in the previous session.
"If Lutnick's comments about giving relief on tariffs for
Canada/Mexico holds, it would ease some of our concerns," said
Mohit Kumar, chief Europe economist at Jefferies.
Investors also welcomed Trump's commitment to extend his
2017 tax cuts, which has buoyed market sentiment since his
election victory in November. He reiterated his tax cut plans in
an address to Congress on Tuesday, where he said "America is
back".
At 05:28 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 242 points,
or 0.57%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 36.5 points, or 0.63%,
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 151.5 points, or 0.74%.
Futures tracking the domestically focused Russell 2000 index
rose 1.2%.
Trump escalated a global trade war on Tuesday as he imposed
tariffs on top trade partners, citing ineffective border
controls. Analysts expect his policies to fan inflation
pressures, slow the economy and eat into corporate profits, at a
time when multiple reports have suggested a cooling economy.
The benchmark S&P 500 has fallen about 6% from its
record high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has come close
to confirming a 10% drop from its peak.
On the data front, ADP's national employment report and
ISM's services sector survey will be in focus later in the day.
The Fed is also slated to unveil its beige book at 2:00 p.m. ET,
that will throw light on the impact tariff uncertainty has had
on the world's largest economy.
Traders now see the central bank lowering borrowing costs
for the first time this year in June, according to data compiled
by LSEG.
Megacaps such as Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Meta
advanced about 1% each.
Chipmakers Nvidia rose 1.4% and Broadcom ( AVGO )
jumped 2%, while Intel ( INTC ) climbed 1.1%. Investors assessed
Trump's remarks as he said lawmakers should get rid of a
landmark 2022 bipartisan law on subsidies to the semiconductor
industry.
Crowdstrike ( CRWD ) fell 8.2% after the cybersecurity firm
forecast first-quarter revenue slightly below estimates, due to
weak spending on its cybersecurity products.
Big banks such as Citigroup ( C/PN ) and JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )
rose over 1.3% each, after the S&P 500 banks index
logged its steepest daily loss in nearly two years in the
previous session.
Across the Atlantic, the Dax jumped 3.5% after
Germany's new government agreed to overhaul borrowing rules to
revamp military spending and revive growth in Europe's largest
economy.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)