SPX: S&P 500 Futures Fall After Stocks Get Battered on Higher Inflation Print. Big Week Ahead.

Markets are holding their breath ahead of the April 2 tariff deadline when Trump will unveil who gets slapped with what.

📉 S&P 500 Futures Dive

• Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 index (SPX) slipped ahead of the opening bell Monday with investors getting jittery over the prospects of hostile tariffs. The drop before the cash session in New York follows a Friday selloff where the S&P 500 wiped out 2% after fresh inflation data rejiggered the economic landscape.
• The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index (the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge) showed that prices climbed more than expected in February, hitting 2.8% against 2.7% expected.

🛒 Stocks Tumble Across the Board

• The news toppled stocks across the board with tech stocks taking the most beating. The tech-dense Nasdaq Composite IXIC shuffled lower by 2.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI gave up 1.7%.
• Futures trading this morning was showing the S&P 500 looking to open lower by roughly 1% while the Nasdaq was lower by about 1.3%. Will the markets finally get the clarity they’ve been asking for? Or just more uncertainty on top of previous uncertainty?

🚨 What’s Coming Next?

• On Wednesday, April 2, Donald Trump’s tariff plans will show if the US is indeed slapping reciprocal tariffs on trade partners like the European Union, Canada, Mexico, China, and Japan. With this move, Trump hopes to free America from oppressive trade policies, hence he’s dubbed this day “Liberation Day.”
• Tariffs are essentially an unfriendly act that aims to derail imports and stimulate homegrown businesses to be more self-sufficient. What’s more, tariffs can bring about trade wars and cloud (and even disrupt) the global growth outlook.