MW U.S. stock futures flat as investors look ahead to earnings, tariff developments

By Mike Murphy

U.S. stock-market futures were little changed Sunday, as investors await the next tariff developments and a big week of quarterly earnings.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00) declined about 30 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures (ES00) and Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00) fell fell fractionally. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) dipped a bit, retreating beneath the $18,000 level. Gold (GC00) fell 0.1% and crude (CL.1) gained slightly.

The market finished mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA dipping 0.3% while the S&P 500 SPX closed just shy of its all-time high and the Nasdaq Composite COMP posted a fresh record high. For the week, the Dow slipped 0.1%, its second weekly loss in a row, as the S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.5%.

On Friday, investors largely brushed off reports that President Donald Trump is pushing for minimum tariffs of 15% to 20% on imports from the European Union ahead of his Aug. 1 deadline.

"Some investors seem too casual about the possibility of tariff escalation, brushing it off as old news," Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management wrote in a weekend note. "Maybe they're right - maybe tariffs have become background noise. But reflexivity cuts both ways, and all it takes is a surprise headline to snap attention back to the front page."

Read more: 3 reasons why investors have largely ignored Trump's tariff threats as Aug. 1 deadline approaches

On Sunday, Bloomberg News reported that E.U. officials are expected to meet this week to come up with a plan for retaliatory tariffs in case trade negotiations with the U.S. are unsuccessful.

"I am confident we will get a deal done," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," adding that he had spoken to European trade negotiators that morning.

Trump has repeatedly pushed back tariff deadlines since his April 2 "liberation day" announcement, but Ludnick said that Aug. 1 is a "hard deadline,"

"So, on August 1, the new tariff rates will come in. But nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1. But they're going to start paying the tariffs on August 1," he said, according to a transcript.

Meanwhile, the stock market will turn its focus this week to corporate earnings, which should shed further light on the effects so far of Trump's tariffs on prices and the economy. General Motors Co. (GM), Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Hasbro Inc. $(HAS.UK)$ and Mattel Inc. $(MAT.AU)$ are among the big consumer-facing companies to report.

It's also a big week for tech earnings, with Google parent Alphabet Inc. $(GOOG.UK)$ (GOOGL) reporting quarterly earnings Wednesday, along with Tesla Inc. $(TSLA)$. Investors will be closely watching both for word on artificial-intelligence demand and spending. IBM Corp. $(IBM)$ and Intel Corp. $(INTC)$ also report this week.

Read more: Alphabet's earnings will probably be fine, analysts say, but it faces this threat to its core business

-Mike Murphy

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July 20, 2025 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)

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