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Intel ( INTC ) up after report of Nvidia ( NVDA ), Broadcom ( AVGO ) collaboration
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Tesla up after Morgan Stanley reinstates stock as 'top
pick'
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Crypto stocks surge after Trump hints at new bitcoin
reserve
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February ISM manufacturing data due at 10 a.m. ET
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Futures up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 500 0.44%, Nasdaq 0.74%
(Updates to before markets open)
By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta
March 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set
for a higher open on Monday, ahead of a crucial deadline on
tariffs on top trade partners, while investors awaited a number
of data reports to gauge the health of the world's largest
economy.
At 08:29 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 126 points,
or 0.29%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 26.25 points, or 0.44%
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 154 points, or 0.74%.
U.S. stock indexes were pointing to higher open after they
logged their first monthly decline of 2025 in February, during
which the Nasdaq also came close to a 10% drop from its all-time
high due to fears of sticky inflation and other factors.
Recent reports of softening consumer demand have spurred
fears of a slowdown as markets prepare for higher inflation once
Donald Trump administration's tariff policies take full effect.
Trump's Tuesday deadline will end the one-month pause on 25%
tariffs he imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico after
reaching border control agreements.
However, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments on
Sunday sparked expectations that the levels of the duties might
be lower than the threatened tariffs.
"Most of Wall Street still believes that the tariffs are
rhetoric rather than reality," said Sam Stovall, chief
investment strategist at CFRA Research."
"The purpose of the tariff by the administration is to make
changes with the trading partners, not to end trade with
(them)."
The Federal Reserve has left interest rates on hold since
December in anticipation of sticky inflation, but this week's
economic data, particularly Friday's non-farm payrolls report,
could change the institution's outlook.
A survey from the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM)
survey, due at 10 a.m. ET, is expected to show that
manufacturing activity stood in expansion territory at 50.8 in
February.
Investors will also focus on other crucial data on services
activity and employment, lined up through the week.
Traders have dialed up bets on the Fed's 2025 monetary
policy easing cycle, with futures pointing to at least two 25
basis points worth of interest rate cuts by December, according
to data compiled by LSEG.
St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, a Federal Open
Market Committee voting member, is scheduled to speak later in
the day, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks are due on
Friday.
Trump has also threatened that an extra 10% duty on imports
from China will also take effect on Tuesday, against which a
report said Beijing is likely to retaliate with counter-measures
on agricultural imports from the U.S.
U.S-listed shares of Chinese companies fell following the
report on Beijing's expected moves, with Nio and JD.com
off about 1% each in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, megacaps such as Alphabet and
Amazon.com ( AMZN ) rose about 0.9% each, while chip stocks such
as Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) added
2.4% and 1.9%, respectively.
Tesla rose 3.3% after Morgan Stanley reinstated the
stock as 'top pick' among U.S. autos.
Futures tracking the small-caps Russell rose 0.8%.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) jumped 13%,
Coinbase rose 9.5% after Trump announced a proposed
reserve of digital assets, ahead of Friday's White House Crypto
Summit.
Chipmaker Intel rose 5.9% after a report that chip
designers Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Broadcom ( AVGO ) were running
manufacturing tests with the company.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)