Stock futures fell on Tuesday as China took retaliatory action against new US tariffs by imposing its own levies on select American goods.
In a further escalation, China also opened an investigation into Alphabet’s Google for possible antitrust violations, adding to the market’s uncertainty.
Futures related to Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were down by 0.12%.
Stocks experienced a turbulent trading session on Monday, with major indices staging a sharp rebound after an initial global sell-off.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 600 points, or nearly 1.5%, at its session low after Donald Trump signed an order imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, along with a 10% levy on China over the weekend.
However, markets regained some footing in the afternoon after Trump announced a temporary pause on the tariffs for Mexican goods.
Despite the recovery, all three major indexes closed in negative territory.
“We are in a bull market fuelled by a strong US consumer and rising corporate profitability. Until something cracks with this narrative, I believe dips are buyable,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.
Investors should prepare for more market volatility related to trade uncertainty, but we think the overall backdrop for investors remains quite solid.
Mayfield thinks that China tariffs will likely remain in place as they did during the first Trump administration, but this time around, the White House views “trade as a means to exert non-trade concessions.”
Palantir (PLTR stock) soars on strong earnings report
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) saw a remarkable 19% surge in premarket trading after the software company exceeded analysts’ expectations in its fourth-quarter report.
The company posted adjusted earnings that surpassed forecasts, while revenue jumped by 36% to $828 million—beating Wall Street’s estimate of $776 million.
Palantir’s US business led the charge, with a 52% increase year-over-year.
CEO Alex Karp hailed the company’s deepening position at the forefront of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
“Our early insights surrounding the commoditization of large language models have evolved from theory to fact,” Karp said.
For Q1, the company expects revenue between $858 million and $862 million, marking a 36% increase from 2024, which is better than the anticipated $799 million.
Tesla (TSLA stock) faces losses following tariff delay
Tesla (TSLA) was down by 0.3% in premarket trading after a 5.2% drop on Monday.
The electric vehicle giant faced headwinds as US tariffs on Mexican goods were delayed by a month, which had a direct impact on Tesla, as it assembles all its US vehicles in Mexico.
Approximately 15% of the parts in a Model Y sold in the US are sourced from Mexico, raising concerns over potential supply chain disruptions.
Nvidia (NVDA) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) show mixed results
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), the leader in AI chips, rose by 0.8% in premarket trading after a 2.8% drop on Monday.
The decline stemmed from market concerns over the potential impact of US tariffs on the chip industry and fears regarding China’s AI advancements through companies like DeepSeek.
Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) saw a 6.8% increase in premarket trading, despite a 5.86% drop on Monday.
The company, which produces AI servers, announced it would provide a fiscal second-quarter business update on February 11.
Super Micro had been under scrutiny for not complying with Nasdaq’s listing rules but is now set to file delayed financial statements by February 25.
Other market movers
Synaptics, a semiconductor design company, fell by 5% after its CEO announced he would step down to take over Lumentum, a cloud and AI product maker. Lumentum shares rose by 1.7%.
Clorox (CLX) reported a 15% drop in fiscal second-quarter sales to $1.69 billion and revised its fiscal-year sales forecast downward.
Shares of the cleaning-products maker fell by 1.3% in premarket trading.
Earnings reports to watch
Investors are closely awaiting earnings reports from major companies, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Merck, Advanced Micro Devices, Chipotle Mexican Grill, PayPal Holdings, Pfizer, PepsiCo, Amgen, and Spotify Technology.
Alphabet, which rose 0.2% in premarket trading, is expected to report earnings of $2.13 per share on revenue of $96.7 billion.
This would mark a significant increase from the previous year’s per-share profit of $1.64 and revenue of $86.3 billion.
Analysts will be particularly focused on Alphabet’s cloud growth and updates on its AI investments, which could drive future performance.
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