Stock Market News Today: U.S. Futures Mixed After Trump Dismisses Powell Firing Rumors

U.S. stock futures are mixed after President Trump dismissed rumors of plans to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow rose 0.32%, 0.26%, and 0.53% respectively in Tuesday's regular session. Sarepta Therapeutics stock jumped 34% after cutting jobs, while United Airlines dropped 2% after reporting mixed Q2 results. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported a 61% profit jump driven by strong demand for AI chips.

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, as investors reacted to news that President Trump had dismissed rumors of plans to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The S&P 500 futures were down 0.14%, the Nasdaq Composite futures fell 0.32%, and the Dow Jones futures declined 0.01% [1].

The cautious mood in the markets was also driven by signs that U.S. tariff policies were clouding corporate outlooks and spurring inflation [1]. Companies such as ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research, which are affected by tariff uncertainty, saw their stock prices decline. Applied Materials and Lam Research fell by 3% each, while KLA Corp was down 2.8% and Teradyne lost 1% [1].

Despite the cautious mood, investors remained resilient. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record high on Tuesday, boosted by a jump in Nvidia shares after the company announced plans to resume sales of its H20 AI chips to China [1]. However, Nvidia stock eased 0.8% in premarket trading.

Sarepta Therapeutics shares surged 34% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company announced it would slash 500 jobs, or 36% of its workforce, as part of its restructuring plan [2]. The move is expected to decrease costs by $400 million annually starting in 2026. Sarepta also provided an update on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy ELEVIDYS, which the FDA has requested a black box warning for acute liver injury and failure. Sarepta agreed to the request and said it will submit the revised protocol to the FDA and propose testing it in a new patient cohort under the ENDEAVOR trial [2].

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported a near 61% year-over-year rise in second-quarter profit, driven by strong demand for AI chips [3]. TSMC's net revenue in the June quarter rose 38.65% from a year ago to NT$933.80 billion, beating estimates. The company's shares were up nearly 6% at 2:25 a.m. ET on trading platform Robinhood [3].

References:
[1] Reuters. (2025, July 16). Futures down: Dow 0.01%, S&P 500 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.32%. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/sp-500-nasdaq-futures-slip-rate-tariff-concerns-2025-07-16/
[2] Stocktwits. (2025, July 16). Sarepta surges after-hours as it slashes 500 jobs amid FDA black-box warning for gene therapy. Retrieved from https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/sarepta-surges-after-hours-as-it-slashes-500-jobs-amid-fda-black-box-warning-for-gene-therapy-retail-eyes-rebound/ch8KR0HR5oM
[3] CNBC. (2025, July 17). TSMC's second-quarter profit soars nearly 61 percent as AI chip demand stays strong. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/17/tsmcs-second-quarter-profit-soars-nearly-61percent-as-ai-chip-demand-stays-strong-.html