Stocks Poised for Muted Open Ahead of New Week

Stocks are poised to begin another week of trading in New York. (NYSE)

Stock market futures were wavering as investors awaited more news on trade talks and a busy week of corporate earnings, including reports from Tesla and Alphabet.

European Union representatives were expected to meet this week to decide how to respond to President Donald Trump’s threat to slap 30% tariffs on most of their products imported into the U.S. Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline for the tariffs to take effect is swiftly approaching.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 34 points, or 0.1%; and S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures were both flat.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS’ Face the Nation that he expects key countries to figure out that opening their markets to the U.S. is better than paying a significant tariff, but that Aug. 1 is a hard deadline. The administration has unilaterally set tariff levels on imports from around the world, issuing them to countries in letters from Trump.

In addition to the baseline 30% tariff rate set to begin on Aug. 1, Trump has also imposed a 25% tariff on imported cars and auto parts, along with 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper, and has threatened new tariffs on foreign pharmaceuticals and semiconductors next month.

Some European Union member states are open to higher tariff rates by the Trump administration if enough items are exempt from them, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with discussions.

“The next two weeks are going to be weeks for the record books,” Lutnick said, suggesting more trade deals are on the way.

In addition, more than 100 companies will report earnings this week, including two of the Magnificent Seven: Tesla and Alphabet.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 29 points, or less than 0.1%, last week in the largest two-week point and percentage decline since the week ending June 20, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Dow is up 4.2% so far this year.

The S&P 500 Index closed up 0.6% last week to 6296.79, just a whisker below its record close on July 17, Dow Jones Market Data said. The S&P 500 is up 7.1% so far this year.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 1.5% last week, at 20,895.66, a new record close and the 11th record close of 2025. The Nasdaq is up 8.2% year to date.

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com