Investing.com – US stock futures ticked up as markets prepared to begin a holiday-shortened trading week that has so far been dominated by President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Trump announced a slate of executive orders in the opening hours of his second term in the White House, although the actions stopped short of immediately rolling out universal import tariffs — a major focus for financial markets. Elsewhere, the value of Trump’s new “memecoin” soars as he is sworn in as president.
1. Futures higher after Trump inauguration
US stock futures pointed higher on Tuesday, as investors assessed a raft of executive orders from President Donald Trump and looked ahead to a fresh slate of corporate earnings.
By 03:42 ET (08:42 GMT), the Dow futures contract had gained 145 points or 0.3%, S&P 500 futures had risen by 15 points or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had increased by 43 points or 0.2%.
The main averages on Wall Street were closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Sentiment has wavered following Trump’s inauguration, as initial relief that his executive orders did not include new trade tariffs was halted when the new US president told reporters that he was thinking about imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico from February 1.
In a note to clients, analysts at Capital Economics said they expect to see a “fair degree of volatility” to persist in financial markets “for a while yet”, although they ultimately predict that Trump’s first year in office will coincide with a rally in both stocks and the US dollar.
2. Trump’s executive orders in focus
President Trump’s executive orders — written directives issued to the federal government that are legally binding and do not require approval from Congress — have so far covered a wide sweep of issues.
On trade, Trump did not move to immediately slap harsh tariffs on both friends and adversaries, saying he is “not ready for that yet”. But he directed federal agencies to look into persistent US trade deficits and perceived unfairness in trade practices by other countries.
In a memo, the Commerce and Treasury departments and the US Trade Representative were ordered by Trump to also investigate the “economic and national security implications and risks” resulting from trade deficits and recommend “appropriate” responses, “such as a global supplemental tariff or other policies” to remedy the matter.
Elsewhere, Trump unveiled a host of immigration-related executive orders, particularly one that would end the long-standing practice of granting automatic birthright citizenship. This decision, which is due to take effect in 30 days, is expected to face legal challenges.
Trump also signed orders taking the US out of the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization, as well as another seeking to delay by 75 days a ban on TikTok. The popular short-form video platform was initially due to be shut down in the US on January 19.
Other orders pertained to moves to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, and created a so-called Department of Government Efficiency that will be led by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.
3. Trump’s memecoin soars
The value of Trump’s new cryptocurrency spiked to over $10 billion in market value after he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
Known as $TRUMP, the “memecoin” was released last Friday and has surged from less than $10 on Saturday to as high as $74.59 on Monday. On Tuesday at 03:43 ET, it was exchanging hands at $38.78.
Despite the companies behind the token — and a rival coin issued by First Lady Melania Trump called $MELANIA — saying the assets are not for investment but as an “expression of support”, ethics experts have flagged concerns around their ability to raise billions of dollars with little oversight, Reuters reported.
Separately on Monday, Trump-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial announced it had completed an initial token sale, raising $300 million, Reuters said.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin, the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency, touched a fresh record high of $109,071, although it has since retreated from this peak.
Enthusiasm around crypto assets has jumped in recent weeks, fueled by hopes that Trump will usher in an era of looser regulations for the industry following a period of tight scrutiny during the Biden administration.
4. Earnings ahead
Outside of Washington, D.C., traders are awaiting the release of the next batch of quarterly earnings from some of America’s largest companies.
Streaming video giant Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is due to report its results after the bell on Tuesday, while Scotch Tape-owner 3M and financial services group Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) are set to announce their latest figures prior to the start of trading on Wall Street.
The numbers will likely be closely monitored by investors trying to gauge the outlook for markets after a somewhat uneven start to 2025. Some analysts have suggested that earnings could be a driver of equity returns this year, especially as robust economic data and uncertainty around Trump’s trade policies clouds the path ahead for potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Last week, several major US banks, often seen as possible bellwethers for the wider business environment, released strong results powered in part by revived dealmaking activity.
5. Oil falls
Oil prices dropped in European trade on Tuesday after President Trump declared a national emergency on his first day in office with the intent of shoring up US energy production.
Trump said in a White House briefing that he will declare a national energy emergency and use “all necessary resources” to build up America’s energy infrastructure.
Brent oil futures expiring in March fell 0.5% to $79.79 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.3% to $76.39 a barrel by 03:37 ET.
Losses in crude were limited by weakness in the dollar, while Trump also flagged plans for more sanctions against Venezuela, which could tighten oil markets.
Focus also remained on recent US sanctions on Russian crude, and traders priced in a smaller risk premium into crude after Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement.
(Reuters contributed reporting.)
