U.S. Futures Drop as U.S.-China Trade War Escalates Despite Tariff Delay

U.S. stock index futures declined Thursday evening after Wall Street's sharp selloff, driven by rising tensions in the U.S.-China trade war. While President Donald Trump postponed global tariffs by 90 days, investor sentiment remained negative due to heightened trade conflict risks.

The White House confirmed China now faces 145% tariffs, sparking fears of further retaliation from Beijing. China responded with 84% tariffs on U.S. goods and pledged to “fight to the end,” fueling uncertainty over the global economic outlook and trade negotiations.

By 8:02 PM ET (00:02 GMT), S&P 500 futures dropped 0.7% to 5,265.0, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.9% to 18,304.50, and Dow Jones futures slid 0.7% to 39,520.0. This followed a steep decline on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 fell 3.5% to 5,268.05, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.3% to 16,387.31, and the Dow Jones lost 2.5%.

Investors looked past a bigger-than-expected drop in March CPI inflation, as core inflation remained stubbornly high. Concerns also mounted over key U.S. firms heavily exposed to China, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which plunged 4.2%.

Despite Thursday’s losses, all three major indexes were still on track for their first weekly gain in three weeks, helped by Wednesday’s rally after Trump’s tariff delay announcement.

Attention now turns to Q1 earnings, beginning Friday with results from JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), and BlackRock (NYSE:BLK). Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) will follow on Monday. Markets remain volatile as investors assess the economic fallout of tariffs and how corporate earnings held up amid growing uncertainty.