US stock indices edged lower on Monday after President Donald Trump announced plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
On Friday, Trump announced that he would double US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% starting mid-week, a move that could increase trade tension with the EU.
At 10:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 208.46 points, or 0.49%, to 42,061.61, the S&P 500 lost 15.78 points, or 0.27%, to 5,895.91 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 10.10 points, or 0.05%, to 19,103.67.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.1 points, or 0.17%, to 42199.94. The S&P 500 fell 15.0 points, or 0.25%, to 5896.68, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 50.7 points, or 0.27%, to 19063.06.
Meanwhile, China on Monday rejected Washington’s accusations that it violated a pact to de-escalate tariffs and vowed to push ahead with countermeasures to safeguard its interests if necessary.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday signalled a possible call soon between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping to iron out trade issues.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.43% from 4.41% late on Friday.
Gainers and Losers
After tariffs announcement on steel and aluminum imports, stocks of US steelmakers gained.
Nucor jumped 12.1% and Steel Dynamics rallied 13.4%. Cleveland-Cliffs surged 28.3%.
Auto stocks fell, with Ford slipping 2.7% and General Motors losing 2.4%.
Tesla shares fell 2.5% after the EV maker reported lower monthly sales for Portugal, Denmark and Sweden.
Crude oil
Oil prices soared on Monday after OPEC raised production less than some had feared and geopolitical concerns flared in Ukraine and Iran.
A barrel of US crude rose 3.8% to $63.11, while Brent crude, the international standard, gained 4.3% to $65.50.
Bullion
Gold prices on Monday climbed to over 3-week high as US dollar weakened, geopolitical and trade tensions mounted.
As of 10:19 AM ET (1419 GMT), spot gold edged up 2.7% at $3,377.29 an ounce. US gold futures were up 2.6% at $3,402.70.
Spot silver rose 4.1% to $34.31 an ounce, platinum was up 0.3% at $1,059.55 and palladium rose 1.2% to $982.40.
