Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 15, 2025, in New York City.
David Dee Delgado | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures ticked higher Tuesday night after the first trading session post Inauguration Day ended with strong gains, as investors bet that President Donald Trump’s trade policy will not be as stringent as feared.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.39%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 17 points, or 0.04%.
In after-hours action, Oracle shares gained 3%, after Trump announced a joint venture dubbed “Stargate” with OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank to invest “$500 billion, at least” in AI infrastructure in the United States.
Netflix shares soared more than 13% in extended trading after the streaming giant surpassed 300 million paid memberships. United Airlines gained more than 3% after the airline operator posted a rosy outlook and issued fourth-quarter results that surpassed expectations.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session. On Tuesday, the 30-stock Dow rallied more than 500 points, or 1.2%. The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%. On the other hand, Apple was a notable underperformer, dropping more than 3% on the back of two downgrades.
Those moves come after Trump’s first-day comments around trade policy assuaged traders who worried they’d be far more severe. The president said he is considering tariffs of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada. He also mentioned a tax on imports from China, but stopped short of authorizing new tariffs.
“Today, it’s been a relief, right, that we didn’t get something stronger than we were expecting,” Liz Young Thomas, SoFi head of investment strategy, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” However, she cautioned investors against complacency, as any future tariffs have the potential to spur retaliatory tariffs.
“There could be more announcements that come — if and when we decide that we are going to place tariffs on — that are more concrete,” she continued. “Then you get this retaliation effect from other countries, and that drives a lot of the issues in markets.”
Earnings season continues Wednesday, with reports from Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson set to release. Halliburton and GE Vernova will also post results.
