Investing.com - U.S. stock futures tick higher on Friday following a sell-off on Wall Street that pushed the S&P 500 down into correction territory. Elon Musk-led Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) warns of the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on U.S. electric car manufacturers, while a metric of consumer sentiment for March is due to be released and Senate Democrats look set to provide enough backing to pass a Republican stopgap bill to avert a federal government shutdown.

1. Futures higher

U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Friday after the benchmark S&P 500 tumbled into correction territory in the prior session as investors further soured over President Trump’s tariff plans.

By 03:44 ET (07:44 GMT), the S&P 500 futures had edged up by 26 points or 0.5%, Nasdaq 100 futures had risen by 123 points or 0.6%, and Dow futures had climbed by 123 points or 0.3%.

The S&P 500 sank by 1.4% on Thursday, bringing it down by 10.1% from a peak reached less than a month ago. The slump, which places the average in what is referred to as a correction, has been driven by a near-constant stream of on-and-off trade pronouncements from Trump and lingering unease over a series of layoffs of federal workers.

In other indices, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 shed just under 2.0% and the small-cap-focused Russell 2000 dipped by 1.6%. Both were already in correction. Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.3%.

Despite the declines, Trump administration officials maintained a steadfast defense of their agenda, particularly moves to place punishing tariffs on friends and adversaries alike, as necessary steps to amend trade imbalances and boost job growth. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that he was "not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks."

Undermining sentiment was Trump’s threat on Thursday to slap 200% duties on European wine and champagne in response to an announcement from the European Union of retaliatory import tariffs on a host of U.S. products, including whiskey and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) motorcycles.

2. Tesla warns of tariff impact

Tesla has warned that it could be exposed to the impact of foreign countries rolling out their own import tariffs as an answer to Trump’s levies.

The electric vehicle giant, whose CEO Elon Musk has become a close advisor to Trump and has overseen a White House effort to downsize the federal government, made the warning in an unsigned letter to the U.S. Trade Representative.

"As a U.S. manufacturer and exporter, Tesla encourages USTR to consider the downstream impacts of certain proposed actions taken to address unfair trade practices," the company wrote.

It noted that past trade actions by the U.S. have resulted in "immediate reactions by the targeted countries," including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries. These have pushed up costs to manufacture vehicles in the U.S. and expenses for those same care when exported, resulting in a "less competitive international marketplace for U.S. manufacturers," Tesla said.

Trump has floated place harsh tariffs on cars and parts made around in the world from April 2 in a bid to promote domestic carmaking. However, Tesla flagged that, even with the localization of supply chains, some components are "difficult or impossible to source within the United States."

3. Consumer sentiment data ahead

On the economic calendar, markets will be eyeing the latest gauge of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan, as traders hope to glean more insight into the recently downbeat state of the American shopper.

The preliminary measure for March is tipped to edge lower. In February, it declined to a seven-month low due to rising worries over the negative effects of Trump’s tariffs on their purchasing power. Notably, the survey found that the dip occurred across age and wealth groups as well as political affiliations.

Expectations for inflation over the coming year also soared to their highest mark since November 2023, while they saw price gains in five years climbing to the highest point since June 2008.

The numbers contributed to burgeoning concerns on Wall Street that Trump’s levies, which economists have warned could drive up recently-waning inflationary pressures, could also weigh on broader economic activity. Data this week has suggested that both consumer and producer price growth cooled in February, although fears remained that the impact of the tariffs is still to come.

4. Senate Democrats seen backing GOP stopgap bill

Senate Democrats are expected to back a Republican-written stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown on Friday, even as reports suggested lingering internal dissent within the party.

Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the senior chamber of the U.S. Congress, said on Thursday that he would support the measure, in a sign that the party will provide enough votes for it to be advanced. While Republicans control the Senate, they will need some Democratic support to break any potential filibuster against the bill.

Schumer did not specify how other Senate Democrats would vote, with the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reporting that he surprised many of his colleagues when he announced at a private luncheon that he planned to allow the bill to move forward.

Earlier this week, Schumer had said Democrats were "unified" in their opposition to the legislation, even as a midnight Friday deadline to keep federal funding taps open loomed.

Along with tariffs and a spree of massive federal layoffs, analysts have cited the legislative wrangling in Congress as yet another source of uncertainty for markets in recent weeks.

5. Oil rises amid elusive Ukraine peace deal

Oil prices bounced on Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine needed some reworking.

Putin said on Thursday that while Russia supported the plan in principle, more clarifications and conditions on a range of points had to be sorted out before the fighting could come to a halt.

For crude markets, traders are attempting to assess whether a deal may eventually lead to the lifting of sanctions on Russia and the return of energy supplies to the global market. In theory, such an event could drive down oil prices.

Elsewhere, gold continued to hover around an all-time high as escalating trade tensions bolstered its appeal as a safe-haven asset. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is on pace to fall by almost 5% this week, with risk appetite battered and investors cautious ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week.