Investing.com– U.S. stock index futures edged higher Tuesday, but sentiment remained fragile as investors awaited more corporate earnings amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
At 05:35 ET (09:35 GMT), rose 72 points, or 0.2%, gained 14 points, or 0.3%, and climbed 75 points, or 0.4%.
The main Wall Street indices have recorded two straight days of gains as investors cheered some exemptions from Trump’s extensive tariffs policy with China. A measure of bargain buying has also aided markets after sharp losses over the past few weeks, as investors reacted to the uncertainty surrounding the new U.S. trade policy.
The Trump administration has said it is kicking off investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors products, as it gauges whether to impose tariffs on these sectors.
This follows the president saying on Monday that he might even grant exemptions to automobiles.
Fed Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary impact of the duties may be transitory. Still, he flagged caution around the growth outlook due to the trade taxes, saying they amount to “one of the biggest shocks to affect the U.S. economy in many decades.”
Q1 earnings in focus
The first-quarter earnings has started to pick up steam this week, after the results from a number of major banks pointed to resilience in corporate earnings despite growing economic headwinds.
Bank of America (NYSE:) and Citigroup (NYSE:) continue the banking theme Tuesday, and are likely to benefit from the tariff-driven volatility in financial markets which has tended to boost industry-wide equity trading returns in the first quarter.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:) are also set to report.
Elsewhere, several Federal Reserve officials are also set to speak this week, most notably on Wednesday.
The focus is squarely on the central bank’s plans for interest rates amid heightened uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs and a potential U.S. recession.
Crude stable, near all-time highs
Oil prices steadied, as traders digested concerns over global growth as well as optimism over the Trump administration’s recent tariff exemptions as well as a rebound in Chinese crude oil imports.
At 05:35 ET, Brent futures drifted just lower to $64.87 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded largely flat at $61.53 per barrel.
Data released on Monday showed that China’s imports in March were up nearly 5% from a year earlier, as arrivals of Iranian oil surged in anticipation of tighter U.S. sanctions enforcement.
Elsewhere, gold prices were below a new record high notched on Monday, while the U.S. dollar firmed against a basket of currency peers and Bitcoin gained more than 1%.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
