U.S. Stock Futures Fall as Tariff Uncertainty Weighs on Global Markets

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

U.S. stock futures fell in early European trade as uncertainty reigned around President Trump's tariffs. Equities in the U.S. broadly rose Friday after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs levied under a national emergency law. Shortly after the ruling, Trump signed an order imposing a temporary 10% levy on all goods into the U.S, which was then raised to 15% Saturday.

The euro gained against the dollar as details on how the new tariffs will be imposed, and whether trade deals signed between the U.S. and tariff-hit nations will hold, remained unclear.

Asian equities largely rose as the court's decision looked set to lower headline rates on China and other countries, though European stocks fell at the open as investors weighed the possibility of further euro strengthening and a complicated export environment.

Meanwhile, the promise of further talks between the U.S. and Iran saw oil prices nudge lower. Equity investors anticipate Nvidia earnings due Wednesday, with the chip maker's release poised to drive investor sentiment around artificial intelligence.

--U.S. stocks fell back premarket after initially responding positively to the Supreme Court's ruling against large swathes of Trump's tariff regime. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.35% and 0.4%, respectively. Tech stocks that had rallied after the ruling, including Amazon and Apple, fell back premarket. Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq were down 0.5%.

--Asian equity markets largely rose following the Supreme Court's tariff judgment. The South Korean Kospi climbed 0.7% after rising as much as 2% intraday, while Taiwan's Taiex crossed 34000 for the first time, adding 2% as investors bet on a reduction in levies placed on Chinese exporters. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose as much as 2.8% before closing up 2.5% as tech stocks drove gains.

Equity markets in mainland China remained closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

--European indexes largely slipped in early trade as semiconductor exporters and software stocks fell. Europe's largest company by market capitalization, ASML, dropped 2.15%, dragging the Dutch AEX index down 0.6%. German supplier to semiconductor manufacturers Suss Microtec was down 3%, while software group SAP slipped 2.4% in Frankfurt. In addition, losses for automakers and industrials combined to push the DAX 0.6% lower. France's CAC 40 was down 0.2%. Pernod Ricard fell 2.8% after a brief bump Friday from the Supreme Court's tariff decision, while software-exposed Dassault Systemes slipped down 2.4%. Software stocks and alternative asset managers helped drag the FTSE 100 down 0.15% in London. Elsewhere, Spain's IBEX 35 and Italy's FTSE MIB were in the green, rising 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively, as major banks in both indexes gained.

--The dollar remained under pressure after the Supreme Court decision. The market appears to be focusing on the fact that tariffs are an important source of funding for the government's fiscal expansion plans, Commerzbank's Thu Lan Nguyen said in a note. The DXY dollar index drops 0.3% to 97.483, having earlier hit a five-day low of 97.355.

--U.S. Treasurys yields edged slightly lower, recovering after rising on Friday after the Supreme Court decision. Treasurys could be vulnerable as this raises uncertainty over tariff policies and potential concerns about U.S. government funding, Commerzbank analysts said in a note. There are risks of a steeper U.S. yield curve--a widening gap between yields on longer-dated and shorter-dated bonds--and of Treasurys underperforming German Bunds, they said. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 1.2 basis points to 4.075%, having risen to 4.106% on Friday, Tradeweb data show.

Yields on eurozone government bonds edged lower, tracking moves in U.S. Treasurys. In Europe, focus will switch to the German Ifo business climate survey. Conditions for a rebound in the Ifo index are favorable, which could potentially cause yields to break their recent falling trend, LBBW analysts said in a note. The German 10-year Bund yield fell 0.7 bps to 2.730%, Tradeweb data show.

--Bitcoin fell along with other cryptocurrencies as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs reduces appetite for risky assets. Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to $65,926 after hitting a two-and-a-half-week low of $64,338 overnight, according to LSEG. Ether declined 3.3% to $1,885, remaining near the two-and-a-half-week low of $1,848 reached overnight. Bitcoin's latest slide reflects the return of caution in risk-asset markets, said Linh Tran at XS.com. Another key factor is the clear weakening of Bitcoin ETF flows, which directly affects market demand and weakens expectations for a sustainable bullish cycle near term.

--Oil prices fell in early trading on news that the U.S. and Iran are set to hold another round of nuclear talks. Brent crude slipped 0.9% to $70.65 a barrel, while WTI fell 1% to $65.21 a barrel following last week's rally. Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi said in a post on X. "In the case of a deal, we would see a fairly aggressive erosion of the risk premium currently priced into the market--although reaching a deal is easier said than done," analysts at ING said.

--Gold prices climbed above $5,100 on a softer dollar and growing uncertainty over Trump's tariffs. In early trading, New York futures were up 1.5% to $5,155.10 a troy ounce, while the falling U.S. dollar makes bullion more attractive to overseas buyers.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2026 04:51 ET (09:51 GMT)