European stocks are seen opening a tad higher on Wednesday as investors react to U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and await earnings from Nivida for fresh signals on the durability of artificial intelligence demand.
As new global tariffs take effect at 10 percent, Trump slammed last week’s Supreme Court tariff decision as “very unfortunate,” adding that U.S. trading partners “want to keep the deal that they already made” with his administration.
In his State of the Union address, Trump also said that the tariffs paid by foreign countries will replace the modern-day system of income tax.
“As time goes by, I believe that tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love,” Trump said.
U.S. stock index futures were a tad higher as investors awaited Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings for fresh insights into whether massive AI infrastructure spending is translating into sustained growth.
In extended trading on Tuesday, personal computer maker HP Inc. topped Q1 earnings estimates but issued a cautious outlook, citing headwinds resulting from higher chip costs and trade pressures.
Enterprise software giant Workday Inc also offered weak guidance for the current quarter, adding to investor anxiety over the risks that AI poses to its business.
Asian markets followed Wall Street higher, with Japanese and South Korean shares rallying to record highs on strength in technology stocks, after AI startup Anthropic PBC emphasized partnerships with companies, adding its Claude chatbot technology will integrate with, rather than displace, existing businesses.
The dollar edged lower in Asian trade, helping gold prices surge toward $5,200 an ounce.
Oil prices held near seven-month highs as traders weighed the risk of possible military escalation in the Middle East ahead of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran this week.
U.S. stocks bounced back overnight as tech stocks rebounded from recent losses and a survey showed consumer sentiment picked up pace in February.
Trump’s imposition of a 10 percent global tariffs under a different legal framework, rather than the 15 percent tariffs announced earlier, also helped spur some relief over his trade agenda.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1 percent as AMD announced a major supply deal with Meta.
The Dow and the S&P 500 both added around 0.8 percent after suffering heavy losses in the previous session.
European stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with a resurgence in trade uncertainty coupled with artificial-intelligence disruption concerns keeping investors on edge.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.2 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both closed marginally lower while France’s CAC 40 edged up by 0.3 percent.
Market Analysis
European Shares Likely To Open On Firm Note; Nvidia Earnings Eyed
2026-02-25 05:36:58
