Dow Jones futures dive on concerns about higher trade tariffs

• Equities fall after a new turn on the tariff saga includes higher blanket levies.

• Fed policymakers remain divided about the next month's monetary policy decisions.

• Strong US Jobless Claims data have curbed market expectations of imminent monetary easing moves.

Dow Jones Index Futures anticipate a negative opening on Friday after Thursday’s positive session. Investors' concerns that the higher tariffs announced by US President Trump will boost inflation and weigh on growth are hurting market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are showing a 0.52% decline hours ahead of the opening bell. S&P Index futures drop 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Technology Index futures are posting losses of 0.44% at the time of writing.

New tariff threats are hammering risk appetite

Trump announced a new batch of tariffs on Thursday, hiking levels to Canada to 35% and including the Eurozone, which is currently in negotiations with US representatives. Apart from that, Trump also hiked the tariff baseline to all other countries to 15% or 20% from the previous 10%.

This announcement follows a plan to introduce a 50% tariff on all copper products, which will have a wide impact on the US industry and might lead to supply chain disruptions.

Meanwhile, the divergence among Fed policymakers keeps investors wondering about the bank’s rate-cut calendar. Waller and Daly reiterated their call for rate cuts in the coming months, while a more cautious Musalem suggested that interest rates should remain at current levels until there is more clarity about the inflationary impact of tariffs.

On the macroeconomic front, US Jobless Claims declined against expectations to their lowest level in seven weeks, which highlights the resilience of the labour market and curbs hopes of any monetary policy easing in July or September.