U.S. stock futures fell after Nvidia (NVDA) announced costly new restrictions on chip exports to China and as investors faced uncertainty about President Trump’s trade policies.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.5%. Benchmark S&P 500 futures (ES=F) fell 0.8%. Tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite futures (NQ=F) fell 1.2%.
A new filing from Nvidia on Tuesday showed that the U.S. government has required the company to obtain a license to export its H20 artificial intelligence chip to China. The chip giant said the move would cost the company $5.5 billion, causing its shares to plummet in after-hours trading.
U.S. stocks lost momentum early Tuesday, falling after a brief rally as the direction of Trump’s trade policy continued to confuse Wall Street.
Tariffs on key imports remain up in the air. Auto tariff exemptions are reportedly under consideration, while the ultimate fate of recently suspended tariffs on consumer electronics is unclear. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preparing for new taxes on pharmaceuticals, semiconductor imports and critical minerals.
The outlook for the impact of tariffs on U.S. trading partners is equally uncertain. Since announcing a 90-day suspension of most “reciprocal” tariffs last week, the president has emphasized that negotiations are ongoing with countries other than China.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessette said he expects “substantial clarity” on tariffs with major U.S. trading partners other than China before Trump’s 90-day suspension ends.
“Once we get to a mutually agreeable level and they agree to reduce tariffs, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation and industrial and labor subsidies, then I think we can move forward,” Bessette said.
On Wednesday, investors will be watching new retail sales data from the U.S. Census Bureau as Wall Street’s warnings of an economic slowdown continue to heat up.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Shares of Nvidia, the struggling big AI chipmaker, took another hit in after-hours trading on news that the U.S. government restricted exports of its H20 chips to China. The market is a huge buyer of Nvidia products, and the reduction resulted in a $5.5 billion hit to the company’s earnings.
Nvidia fell more than 6% in after-hours trading.
United Airlines Holdings (UAL)
United Airlines’ stock price soared after its early morning earnings report showed that its first-quarter revenue exceeded expectations. The company expected earnings per share of $0.91, which is still a significant profit in an environment where the airline industry was hit hard at the beginning of the year and the market was turbulent. United Airlines promised to “aggressively” invest in growth, which boosted investor confidence.
Shares rose 6.7% in after-hours trading.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR)
Shares of multinational brokerage firm Interactive Brokers fell in after-hours trading after the company’s first-quarter earnings report showed earnings that missed expectations. The company’s stock price fell when the after-hours opening and continued to fall throughout the trading period, plunging 9.8% cumulatively.
