Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on August 1, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures are little changed Sunday night to kick off the start of a new trading month. Investors are once again on edge amid worries of rising inflation and an economic slowdown as the Trump administration’s new round of tariffs are expected to take effect.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures hovered near the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15 points, or less than 0.1%.
Stocks are coming off of a volatile trading week that saw each of the three major U.S. indexes end with significant losses, halting weeks of mostly positive moves for the broader market.
The S&P 500 ended the week down 2.4%, notching its worst weekly performance since May 23, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.9% to post its worst week since April 4. The Nasdaq Composite ended the week down 2.2%.
Friday’s sell-off was driven by a worse-than-expected July jobs report and jitters about President Donald Trump’s new modified tariff rates. Trump signed an executive order late last week that updated his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners, ranging from Syria to Taiwan, with updated duties ranging from 10% to 41%.
Investors are now digesting what a weakened U.S. labor market could mean for the weeks ahead. Traders are expecting reduced chances for a September interest rate cut after policymakers last week held the benchmark overnight borrowing rate in place for the fifth-straight meeting.
The market is also bracing for a historically weak month. August is the worst month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in data going back to 1988, and the second worst for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
