Stock market today: Wall Street quiet in premarket trading following Monday's rally

Markets appear to be settling a day after a broad rally was fueled by hopes the Trump administration may take a more targeted approach to tariffs.

Futures for the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all rose less than 0.1% before Tuesday's opening bell.

KB Homes slid 8.6% after it fell significantly short of Wall Street's first quarter sales and profit forecasts. Already mired in a slump, homebuilders are now faced with potentially rising costs due to tariffs, which they will have to pass on to buyers. KB's results and grim forecast dragged a host of other homebuilders' shares down with it, including Toll Brothers, LGI and Lennar.

Tesla shares ticked up 1.3% despite more grim sales figures from Europe.

European sales of Tesla electric cars were almost cut in half during the first two months of the year compared with a year earlier, even as the overall market for battery-powered cars grew, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

In addition to an aging model line, sales declines are also being blamed in part on CEO Elon Elon Musk’s endorsement of Germany’s far-right party in last month’s national election, his embrace of fringe political movements, and a gesture during a Trump event in January that many saw as a Nazi salute. Tesla is also facing increasing competition from Chinese carmakers such as BYD.

Wall Street has several economic updates this week. The Conference Board releases its consumer confidence survey for March on Tuesday. On Friday, the U.S. government releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for February, a measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

Stocks have been roiled for weeks by concerns that a trade war could hinder economic growth and increase inflationary pressures.

A new round of tariffs is scheduled to go into effect on April 2, but President Donald Trump has been unclear on his plans, saying Monday that even though he wants to charge “reciprocal” rates — import taxes to match the rates charged by other countries -- that “we might be even nicer than that.”

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the U.S. and any county purchasing its oil will pay a 25% tariff on all exports to the U.S. starting April 2.

“U.S. tariffs remain a critical headwind for the region to navigate. Any slowdown in trade could weigh on Asia’s export-driven economies, while shifting supply chains may complicate investment flows,” Junrong Yeap of IG said in a commentary.

That would likely more than double the already high tariffs facing China, which in 2023 bought 68% of the oil exported by Venezuela, according to a 2024 analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. also imports oil from Venezuela.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% to 37,780.54, while the Kospi in South Korea lost 0.6% to 2,615.81.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2.4% to 23,344.25 as heavy selling of tech-related shares pulled the benchmark lower.

Cell phone maker Xiaomi's Hong Kong-traded shares dropped 6.3% and delivery app company Meituan lost 4.4%. E-commerce giant Alibaba was down 3.8%.

The Shanghai Composite index was unchanged at 3,369.98.

Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.8% and the SET in Thailand lost 0.5%.

In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX added 1.1%, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.3%. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7%.

Financial information is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Financial information is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The display board with the Dax curve in the trading hall of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)