07:35 AM EDT, 07/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were mostly trending higher on Tuesday after President Donald Trump unveiled new duties on several trading partners and extended the deadline for his reciprocal tariffs announced in April to the beginning of next month.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq gained 0.3% in the most recent premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.1%. The indexes finished the previous trading session in the red.

Trump sent letters to 14 countries on Monday, including Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Thailand, informing them of their new reciprocal tariff rates that are scheduled to come into effect on Aug. 1, the White House said in a statement. Trump set a 25% charge on imports from Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, while imposing 30% duties on South African goods.

"The President may send more letters in the coming days and weeks," according to the White House. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN on Sunday that starting next month, tariffs for countries without trade deals will return to levels announced at the beginning of April.

Trump also signed an executive order on Monday to extend the reciprocal tariff deadline to Aug. 1. After announcing sweeping new tariffs in early April, Trump put in place a 90-day pause on certain levies for non-retaliating countries that was set to expire tomorrow.

"I have determined, based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners, that it is necessary and appropriate to extend the suspension," Trump said in the executive order.

US Treasury yields were moving higher in premarket action, with the two-year rate rising 0.4 basis points to 3.91% and the 10-year rate advancing 2.2 basis points to 4.42%.

"We see potential market volatility as renewed tariff uncertainty can weigh on equities," D.A. Davidson said in a Monday client note. "Trade deals, on the other hand, can be a positive."

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to post minutes of its last policy session on Wednesday, which will be assessed for clues on the central bank's monetary policy. Last month, the central bank kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting.

The National Federation of Independent Business small business optimism index on Tuesday posted a 0.2-point decrease for June to 98.6.

Shares of SoFi Technologies ( SOFI ) added nearly 2% pre-bell after closing the previous trading session up 3.6%. Wolfspeed ( WOLF ) jumped 15% as the firm named semiconductor veteran Gregor van Issum as its chief financial officer.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 0.5% to $67.59 a barrel before the opening bell. Gold decreased 0.3% to $3,333 per troy ounce, while bitcoin inched 0.4% higher to $108,637.