Vehicles are parked in lots at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, March 13, 2025.
- President Donald Trump announced new 25% tariffs on cars made outside the U.S.
- Federal job cuts could be about to hit the Treasury Department.
- Developer KB Home is unveiling an entirely "fire-resilient" community in Escondido, California.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Timid trading
Stock futures were timid Thursday, continuing a relatively slow week on Wall Street. Four trading days into the period, the major averages have posted modest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1% on the week, the S&P 500 is up about 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite is 0.65% higher. Global auto stocks, however, were hurting Thursday morning after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on vehicles coming into the U.S. General Motors, for one, was down 6% in premarket trading. Follow live market updates.
2. Autos in focus
Trump on Wednesday announced new 25% tariffs on cars made outside the U.S. The levies are in addition to other duties that are already in place and come ahead of a broader slate of tariffs that Trump has said will take effect on April 2. Mexico, Korea, Japan and Canada accounted for the most vehicle imports to the U.S. as a percentage of sales last year, according to GlobalData.
3. Reduced workforce
Federal job cuts could be about to hit the Treasury. The department is considering furloughs of a "substantial" portion of its staff as part of the widespread shrinking of government agencies. A Treasury spokesperson said no final decisions have been made, but that the department is evaluating "a number of measures to increase efficiency, including a rollback of wasteful Biden-era hiring surges." The Treasury has more than 100,000 employees.
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4. Increasing revenue
OpenAI expects to massively boost revenue this year, CNBC's Hayden Field reports. The ChatGPT parent projects 2025 revenue of $12.7 billion, triple its revenue from the prior year and only a few hundred million short of the annual recurring revenue of Microsoft — OpenAI's principal investor. The update comes as OpenAI sets new priorities for its C-suite and as competition heats up in generative AI.
5. Fire resiliency
Developer KB Home is unveiling an entirely "fire-resilient" community in Escondido, California. The development will ultimately have 64 homes, starting at about $1 million each, that meet specific standards for resisting wildfires. That includes spacing between the structures, specific building materials and other mitigations. Climate change and the rising risk of wildfires have highlighted the importance of specialized builds to protect against threats. KB Home said about 20 of the homes are already sold.
Money Report
– CNBC's Brian Evans, Kevin Breuninger, Eamon Javers, Jeff Cox, Hayden Field and Diana Olick contributed to this report.
