US futures hold up but we’ve seen this story before

• S&P 500 futures +0.4%
• Nasdaq futures +0.4%
• Dow futures +0.3%

Trump’s tariffs threat ruined the script in trading yesterday but there was already a sense it wouldn’t take much to tear it apart anyway. US stocks have almost declined in every day this week, following what was mostly better starts. Even on Wednesday where tech shares managed to barely hang on, it really felt like a loss.

So, the gains early today are not indicative of much. Nvidia had a poor showing, alongside the Magnificent Seven, in trading yesterday falling over 8%. As such, the tentative bounce of around 1% in pre-market now is not all too convincing.

We have seen many a time where US stocks, tech shares especially, bounce back strongly after heavy blows. But there’s a feeling things are bit more challenging in this latest bout. The unbridled AI optimism has lost a bit of its allure and there are still some potential pitfalls before the weekend. The US PCE price data is due and more Trump headlines could really keep a lid on any rebound potential.

However, perhaps the more pressing concern is the break of key technical levels this week. The S&P 500 has dropped below its 100-day moving average (red line) while the Nasdaq has not only broken that but is now eyeing a potential test of its 200-day moving average (blue line).

I highlighted the danger to those levels earlier in the week here. And those risks still hold true as we look towards the weekend, where the gains thus far today are masking the shaky underlying sentiment in the market this week.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.