Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott, Associated Press
Wall Street futures are almost unchanged Wednesdays, with few corporate news or revenue reports in the week that was shortened to holidays. There may also be pullbacks ahead of important US employment data arriving Thursday and the looming US tariff deadline next week.
The S&P 500 futures were flat in front of the bell, with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising just 0.1%. Nasdaq futures fell 0.1%.
Japan’s markets have declined, and before the deadline of July 9th, there has been no progress in trade talks with the US, facing either trading or raising tariffs.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, pointed out President Donald Trump’s declaration that there will be no extension of the tariff suspension.
“The message was dull. If Tokyo doesn’t give in, we’ll pay. The 30%, 35%, or ‘whatever’ tariffs are now openly back to the table,” Ines said. “The negotiation table has become a pressure cooker.”
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.6% lower at 39,762.48.
In Washington, House Republican leaders are hustling to get a vote on Trump’s tax and spending reduction package on Wednesday. The bill passed Senate 51-50 on Tuesday thanks to Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreak vote.
Some economists fear that once the bill becomes law, US government debt will become higher and spark another game of inflation. This could mean that interest rates continue to rise and lower the prices of bonds, stocks and other investments.
As the market closed on Friday, July 4th, the June employment report rose one day on Thursday, coinciding with weekly data releases on Labor Bureau layoffs.
In Corporate News, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to resolve the lawsuit filed by President Trump in October, compiling a CBS “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Paramount share rose by about 0.6% before the bell, with little impact from the news.
Paramount told the media that the settlement does not include an apology and that the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not the president himself.
Elsewhere, Germany’s DAX rose 0.5% at midday in Europe, while Paris’ CAC 40 added 1.4%. The UK’s FTSE 100 inch increased by 0.1%.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hangsen went to 0.6% to 24,221.41, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1% to 3,454.79.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5% to 3,075.06 after the government reported inflation rising in June.
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,597.70. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.1%, while India’s Sensex lost 0.3%.
In the energy trade, it benchmarked US crude oil, adding 88 cents to $66.33 per barrel. International standard Brent crude rose 87 cents per barrel to $67.98.
The US dollar rose from 143.41 yen to 144.18 days. The euro slid from $1.1808 to $1.1751.
Original issue: July 2, 2025, 8:45am EDT
