A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 25, 2025.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures were lower Tuesday, with investors weighing the latest developments on the trade front to kick off a seasonally poor month for equities.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 189 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures were lower by 0.5% and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.7%.
Those moves come after a federal appeals court on Friday ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined in a 7-4 ruling that only Congress has the authority to apply sweeping levies. Trump called the decision “Highly Partisan” and has said that he will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“A Supreme Court ruling against the use of IEEPA on reciprocal tariffs would reduce the risk of broad-based tariff escalation, which is market-positive,” wrote Aniket Shah, head of of sustainability and transition strategy at Jefferies. “However, short-term uncertainty may rise as some trade agreements may need to be renegotiated.”
Those developments could weigh on sentiment to start a new trading month. September is historically the worst month for equities, with the S&P 500 averaging a 4.2% drop over the last five years, and falling more than 2% on average over the last 10.
Adding to uncertainty are questions around the future of Federal Reserve independence, given the Trump administration’s efforts to oust central bank officials. A court hearing that Trump be temporarily barred from firing Lisa Cook ended Friday without a ruling. This week, Stephen Miran, a Trump nominee, has his Senate Banking Committee hearing scheduled on Sept. 4.
Wall Street is coming off a strong month for the stock market. In August, the 30-stock Dow advanced more than 3%. The S&P 500 rose nearly 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the month 1.6% higher. It was the fourth month in a row of gains for the S&P 500. The big event traders are waiting for is the release of August’s jobs report on Friday and how it will influence the Fed’s interest rate decision coming mid-month.
September is the worst month for stocks
September is historically the worst month for stocks. In data going back to 1950, the S&P 500 has averaged a 0.7% decline in September, both for all years and post-election years, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
In recent years, that track record has gotten worse. Over the past five years, the S&P 500 has averaged a 4.2% drop in September. Over the last 10 years, the index has dropped 2% on average.
— Sarah Min
Asia markets close mixed as investors assess SCO summit amid tariff uncertainty
Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed as investors assessed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting of leaders in Tianjin, with tariff uncertainty weighing on sentiment.
This comes after a U.S. federal appeals court on Friday ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal.
India markets were in focus after Trump said that India had offered to reduce its tariffs on U.S. imports to zero.
“They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that the U.S.’ relationship with India was “one sided.”
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.29%, while the BSE Sensex index advanced 0.26% as of 1:40 p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:10 a.m. ET).
Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.29% higher at 42,310.49 after choppy trade, while the broader Topix index moved up 0.61% to 3,081.88.
Suntory Beverage & Food came in the spotlight following reports that its CEO and Chairman Takeshi Niinami resigned following a police investigation into his purchase of a potentially illegal supplement.
Shares of the Japanese soft drinks and wellness food products producer ended the day 2.94% higher.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi index increased by 0.94% to 3,172.35, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 1.15% to 794.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.47% to close at 25,496.55, while mainland China’s CSI 300 dropped 0.74% to 4,490.45.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved down 0.3% to end the day at 8,900.60.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said that its review panel had imposed a fine of $3.88 million Australian dollars ($2.52 million) on a local unit of French lender Societe Generale for failing to prevent suspicious orders in the electricity and wheat futures markets.
An investigation by the regulatory body found that Societe Generale Securities Australia, which is one of the largest participants on the ASX 24 derivatives market, had allowed two of its clients to place 33 suspicious orders between May 2023 and February 2024. That “volatile period” saw supply issues in global energy and wheat markets caused by the Russia-Ukrainian War, among other factors, the panel said.
Meanwhile, the country’s current account balance for the April to June quarter came in at a deficit of AU$13.7 billion Australian dollars, compared to the AU$14.7 billion deficit the quarter before and the AU$16 billion deficit forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
— Amala Balakrishner
Most Trump tariffs ruled illegal by appeals court
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal, striking a massive blow to the core of his aggressive trade policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in a 7-4 ruling that the law Trump invoked when he granted his most expansive tariffs — including his “reciprocal” tariffs — does not actually grant him the power to impose those levies.
“The core Congressional power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution,” the court said. “Tariffs are a core Congressional power.”
Read the full story here.
— Kevin Breuninger, Dan Mangan
Stock futures open higher
Stock futures opened higher Monday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 19 points. S&P 500 futures were higher by about 0.11% and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.14%.
— Sarah Min
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