Futures on all three major benchmarks are near breakeven
Wall Street is eyeing a choppy open, as investors balance weak jobs data against hopes for tariff relief. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures were initially set to soar, after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested a potential trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. However, futures are hovering near fair-market value after ADP’s private payroll report showed just 77,000 jobs were added in February, well below expectations and the slowest growth since July.
Automaker stocks, which had been hit hard by tariff concerns, saw early gains but reversed lower as economic slowdown fears took hold. Meanwhile, annual pay growth remained steady at 4.7%, reinforcing concerns that Trump’s trade policies could fuel inflation.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2.1 million call contracts and 1.3 million put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.61, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.60.
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CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) was last seen 8.2% lower premarket after issuing mixed guidance. While the
cybersecurity firm’s full-year revenue forecast aligned with expectations, its first-quarter operating income guidance of $173.1 million to $180 million came in well below analysts' estimate of $218.2 million. Coming into today, CRWD was up 14% in 2025.
- Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) stock was last seen down 5.6% ahead of the open, after the cloud company’s first-quarter revenue outlook of $274 million to $275 million missed expectations of $279.5 million. However, its fourth-quarter revenue of $280 million slightly exceeded Wall Street estimates. Should these pre-market losses hold, it will place BOX inches above its year-to-date breakeven mark.
- Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) are off 22.5% in electronic trading, following weaker-than-expected fiscal-year guidance. The defense contractor now expects revenue of $780 million to $795 million, falling short of both prior guidance and analysts' estimate of $820 million. Concerns over Trump’s wavering support for Ukraine have also weighed on the stock, as the company is a key supplier of guided munitions to Ukraine. Already in 2025, AVA is down 7.8%.
- March kicks off with plenty of jobs data to unpack.
China Sets Lofty GDP Target for 2025
Asian bourses responded well to encouraging economic rhetoric in China. At its annual parliamentary gathering, the National People’s Congress set its gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2025 at 5%. In response, the Shanghai Composite added 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2%, while small caps lifted South Korea’s Kospi by 1.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the region’s big winner, adding 2.8%.
European markets are moving higher as well amid renewed hopes for trade war de-escalation. The German DAX is up 3.7%, with defense stocks rallying after conservative and social democratic parties agreed to reform the constitutional debt brake system to allow more defense spending. German bond yields surged in response. London’s FTSE 100 and the French CAC are 0.6% and 2.3% higher, respectively, at last check.