US STOCKS-Wall St on pace for lower open as tariff uncertainty curbs risk appetite

By Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open lower on Monday as renewed tariff uncertainty unnerved investors after President Donald Trump announced a new 15% duty following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down his broader levies.

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling on Friday, voided most of the tariffs Trump imposed last year, finding that the emergency law he relied on did not allow the imposition of tariffs.

Using a different statute, Trump announced first a 10%, then a 15%, global levy that could last five months while the administration searches for more durable workarounds.

All three main stock indexes clocked weekly gains on Friday as markets took the Supreme Court's decision in stride, with the Nasdaq .IXIC snapping a five-week losing streak.

"The market is just experiencing some profit-taking as traders realize that the relief rally from Friday may be premature. You simply can't bet against Trump. He wants tariffs, and he's going to find a way to implement them," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC.

At 08:18 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 239 points, or 0.48%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 29.75 points, or 0.43%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 142 points, or 0.57%.

Most megacap and growth stocks were lower in premarket trading, though Alphabet GOOGL.O bucked the trend with a 0.5% gain after rising around 4% on Friday.

Nvidia NVDA.O inched 0.3% higher ahead of quarterly earnings due on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy U.S. markets facing a major test as commentary from the world's largest company by market capitalization could offer key insight about the AI sector that has been hit by growing investor skepticism.

High stock valuations and AI disruption fears have lately pressured technology and other sectors, as investors question if massive AI spending is paying off.

Earnings from major software firms including Salesforce CRM.N and Intuit INTU.O will be on the radar later this week, given that the S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS has slumped more than 20% this year amid growing AI disruption fears.

Among other movers on Monday, Eli Lilly LLY.N rose 2.9% after rival Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO obesity drug fell short against Lilly's drug in a Copenhagen trial.

Merck MRK.N edged 0.6% higher after the drugmaker said it will split its human-health business into two divisions.

Domino's Pizza DPZ.O climbed 5.6% after the fast-food chain beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter U.S. same-store sales.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks dropped as bitcoin BTC= lost around 2%, with exchange operator Coinbase Global COIN.O and crypto hoarder Strategy MSTR.O falling around 2% each.

Gold and silver miners were broadly higher as prices of both precious metals gained. Top gold miner Newmont NEM.N climbed 1.2% while silver miner Hecla Mining HL.N added 2%.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he was open to leaving interest rates on hold at the Fed's March meeting if upcoming February jobs data indicates the U.S. labor market had "pivoted to a more solid footing" after a weak 2025.

Traders currently expect the Fed to make its next move on rate cuts in June, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.