US stock futures flat after stellar start to week, focus on trade developments

The rally for European stocks has stalled, although the index is still eking out a decent weekly gain,

said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB

The key theme for global stocks this week is the resurgence of big tech, which is why the FTSE 100 is out of favour, it is too risk averse for this environment,

she added

From a market point of view, the main relief was also that tariffs weren't showing up in a major way in consumer prices, even though April included the 10% universal baseline tariffs, and much higher tariffs on China,

Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note

I think we’re in for a lot more turbulence and a lot more back-and-forth than the markets seem to grasp,

Noland said

Matt BluntaAPC President

We are disappointed that the administration prioritized the U.K. ahead of our North American partners,

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, said in a statement

Thanks to President Trump’s tariffs and dealmaking, the U.K. has opened up billions in export opportunities for American ranchers and farmers while China has agreed to expand market access for American companies,

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said

In the absence of a lasting deal, uncertainty over where tariff rates will settle and the impact of those already implemented will remain key factors in our macroeconomic forecasts,

said Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings

I'm just a little bit cautious here about chasing the rally in stocks at this level,

said IG analyst Tony Sycamore

Despite the easing of the USD overnight, we consider there is more upside to the USD in the near term as market participants reassess the outlook for the U.S. and global economies following the temporary U.S.‑China trade deal,

Commonwealth Bank of Australia analysts wrote in a client note, predicting a 2-3% rise in the dollar index over "the next few weeks."

The Fed has embarked on what seems to be the right course and unless there's any real movements in terms of trade war ending by June, it looks like a June rate cut remains in question,

Cardillo said

The report basically indicates that the Fed needs to be very cautious and that the stand that they have taken is probably the right course, for now,

said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital in New York

When all is said and done, tariffs will still be dramatically higher and will weigh on US growth,

said Christopher Hodge, chief US economist at Natixis

Even if new deals are announced, they are likely to involve complex conditions and protracted implementation timelines, making a full rollback of tariffs to pre-conflict levels unlikely,

the bank said in a Tuesday note

The pause on tariffs is a major relief for manufacturers in both the U.S. and China,

said John Piatek, vice president of consulting for GEP

But if that is going to migrate over time, whatever the new trade environment is, there's an opportunity. We have not yet seen the trade agreements, but we believe that it's going to be less China and more from Southeast Asia and Europe. I think we're in a pretty good spot,

Edwards said

The first blows of the tariff war have landed on global manufacturers,

Piatek said

Our fastest growth over the last four years has been the Indian subcontinent, then Vietnam, then Europe,

said Edwards

As they maneuver to de-risk and limit exposure to China, the rapidly changing landscape and uncertainty is clouding manufacturers' outlook and dampening their capital investment and supply chain,

he said

It is our second-largest trading bloc after the European Union. So it's still a big block,

he said

The Trump administration has made it very clear they want to balance trade. That is their ultimate objective, and that is never going to happen,

he said