Stock Market Today: Stocks drift lower amid renewed tariff concerns

U.S. equity futures moved lower in early Friday trading, with the S&P 500 facing a fifth consecutive weekly decline, as investors continue to worry that President Donald Trump's tariff, immigration and budget-cutting policies will harm growth prospects in the world's biggest economy. 

Stocks ended last night's session with another round of losses, after a solid early rally was reversed over the final hours of trading amid renewed tariff concerns as a series of dour near-term growth outlooks from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve earlier in the week. 

Overnight results from Nike  (NKE)  and FedEx  (FDX) , meanwhile, underscored the impact tariffs are likely to have on corporate earnings growth, with the latter slashing its full-year profit forecast and the former guiding to weaker-than-expected current-quarter sales.

"We are navigating through several external factors that create uncertainty in the current operating environment, including geopolitical dynamics, new tariffs, volatile foreign exchange rates, and tax regulations, as well as the impact of this uncertainty and other macro factors on consumer confidence," Nike finance chief Matthew Friend told investors late Thursday.

LSEG data sees first quarter earnings growth of around 7.8%, down from a January estimate of 12.2%, with a collective overall tally of $507.4 billion. 

With the December quarter earnings season now behind it, first quarter reporting still a few weeks away and the Fed's next policy meeting not slated until May, market focus is likely to home in the President's April 2 announcement on reciprocal tariffs, which could include additional levies of around $600 billion on goods from Europe

"Trade tensions remain the primary market wild card," said Boris Kovacevic, global macro Strategist at Convera. 

"Trump’s promise of a 'big one' in reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2 continues to hang over markets, with investors uncertain about the scale and scope of the potential measures," he added.

Related: Tariff risks leave both Trump and Fed's Powell handcuffed

More immediately, stocks are likely to face a final spike of volatility tied to today's so-called triple witching hour, with the simultaneous expiry of futures and options on stock indices and options on single stocks. 

The CBOE Group's VIX index was last marked 3.5% higher at $20.51, suggesting traders are expecting a daily swing of around 1.28%, or 72 points, for the S&P 500. 

Heading into the start of the trading day, the futures contracts tied to the benchmark suggest an opening bell decline of around 24 points, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced for a 163 point pullback

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 95 points lower with Nvidia  (NVDA) , Tesla  (TSLA) , Nike and Micron  (MU)  active in premarket trading.

More Economic Analysis:

• Retail sales add new complication to Fed rate cut forecasts
• CPI inflation surprise resets tariff talk
• Does Friday's big rally mean the worst is over?

In overseas markets, a fire at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, has disrupted flights around the region, with knock-on effects in markets around the world, pulling travel and leisure stocks lower and adding to the region's broader economic angst.

The Stoxx 600 was last marked 0.67% lower in mid-day Frankfurt trading, while the FTSE 100 fell 0.41% in London.

Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% lower in Tokyo while the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark fell 0.7% into the close of trading. 

Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast