By Sruthi Shankar and Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) -Wall Street stock index futures were subdued on Wednesday as investors weighed U.S. trade negotiations ahead of President Donald Trump’s July 9 tariff deadline and awaited payrolls data for hints on the monetary policy path.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed lower in the previous session, pausing after a record run driven by optimism about the U.S. striking trade deals with its key partners as well as expectations of deeper interest-rate cuts to come.
Trump said on Tuesday he was not thinking of extending the July 9 deadline for imposing tariffs and expressed doubts that an agreement could be reached with Japan, although he said he expected a deal with India. The European Union’s trade chief is expected to hold talks this week with peers in Washington.
Tech stocks came under selling pressure a day earlier as Treasury yields climbed after data showed stronger-than-expected job openings in May, signaling a resilient labor market and underlining the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stance of being patient about lowering borrowing costs.
“For now, the most reasonable scenario is that inflation will start to rise, and the data is pointing in that direction. That message is finally — if slowly — sinking in, even among some of the Fed doves,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst, Swissquote Bank.
Traders are pricing in about 64 basis points worth of rate cuts this year from the Fed, with the odds of the first reduction in July at 19.1%, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Focus now turns to the monthly non-farm payrolls report, scheduled for release on Thursday – a day earlier than usual, as markets are closed on Friday for Independence Day. The reading is expected to show U.S. job growth cooled in June and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
ADP’s private payrolls data for June is due at 08:15 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Republicans passed Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, advancing a package that would slash taxes, reduce social safety net programs and boost military and immigration enforcement spending, while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.
The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval, although a handful of Republicans have already opposed some of the Senate provisions.
By 7:00 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), S&P 500 E-minis were up 4.75 points, or 0.08%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 12.25 points, or 0.05%, and Dow E-minis were up 79 points, or 0.18%.
The blue-chip Dow closed 1.3% below its record high touched in December.
Among single stocks, Centene tumbled 26.6% premarket after the health insurer said it had withdrawn its 2025 earnings forecast after data showed a significant drop in expected revenue from its marketplace health insurance plans.
Shares of peers including Elevance Health and UnitedHealth dipped 3.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
U.S. banking giants including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo edged higher after announcing plans to raise their third-quarter dividends after clearing the Fed’s annual health check last week.
Verint Systems soared 10.8% after Bloomberg News reported buyout firm Thoma Bravo was in talks to buy the call-center software maker.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Pooja Desai)
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