U.S. stock indexes are edging mostly lower following President Donald Trump’s latest updates to his tariffs, but Wall Street is hanging near its record amid speculation about whether the president may ultimately back down. The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower early Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 78 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. Overseas markets were mixed after Trump said over the weekend that he plans 30% tariffs on goods from Mexico and the European Union beginning Aug. 1. The latest reading on inflation in the U.S. arrives Tuesday, as do earnings reports from several major U.S. banks.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street is pointing lower before the opening bell with new tariffs announced for Europe and Mexico and as the unofficial start of earnings season get under way this week.
Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq each retreated by about 0.3% early Monday.
An announcement over the weekend by U.S. President Donald Trump that he plans 30% tariffs on goods from Mexico and the European Union had a modest immediate impact, as analysts said they expected progress toward trade deals before next month’s deadline.
The EU is America’s biggest business partner and the world’s largest trading bloc. The U.S. decision will have repercussions for governments, companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese to German electronics more expensive in the U.S., while destabilizing economies from Portugal to Norway.
Markets in Europe are responding negatively, with Germany’s DAX slumping 1% and and Paris’s CAC 40 shedding 0.5%. The FTSE 100 in Britain — which is not an EU member and has already negotiated a trade deal with the U.S. — gained 0.4%.
The Trump administration had initially set Wednesday as a deadline for countries to make deals with the U.S. or face heavy increases in tariffs. But with just two trade deals announced since April, the window for negotiations has been been extended to Aug. 1.
In a matter of hours, some of the market’s focus will turn toward banks. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are among the big U.S. banks due to report their results on Tuesday.
Shares of Kenvue jumped nearly 6% ahead of the opening bell Monday after the former division of Johnson & Johnson said CEO Thibaut Mongon is stepping down. Kenvue, the maker of Listerine and Band-Aid brands, continues with a strategic review of the company after splitting its consumer health division from the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions in 2021.
Bitcoin climbed to another all-time high, rising as much 3.6% early Monday before settling back around $121,315, according to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin’s price has jumped amid bullish momentum across risk assets and coincides with Congress’ Crypto Week that starts Monday. Lawmakers will debate a series of bills that could define the regulatory framework for the industry.
Chinese shares advanced after the government reported that exports rose last month as a truce in a tariffs war prompted a surge in orders ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline for reaching a new trade deal with Washington.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 24,091.45, while the Shanghai Composite index also was up 0.3%, at 3,519.65.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.3% to 39,459.62, while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 0.8% to 3,202.03.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,570.40.
Taiwan’s benchmark lost 0.6%.
In energy markets, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.05 to $69.50 per barrel, approaching the $70 level for the first time since a two-day rout in late June. Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.03 at $71.39 per barrel.
The dollar ticked up to147.45 Japanese yen from 147.38 yen. The euro fell modestly to $1.1690 from $1.1692.
U.S. stock indexes are edging mostly lower following President Donald Trump’s latest updates to his tariffs, but Wall Street is hanging near its record amid speculation about whether the president may ultimately back down.
BANGKOK – U.S. stock indexes are hanging near their records on Monday following President Donald Trump’s latest updates to his tariffs, as speculation continues on Wall Street that the U.S president may ultimately back down on them.
The S&P 500 was edging down by 0.2% in early trading and still within 0.5% of its all-time high set on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 86 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.
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Stock indexes elsewhere around the world were mixed in their first trading after Trump said over the weekend that he plans 30% tariffs on goods from Mexico and the European Union. Those tariffs won’t take effect until Aug. 1, the same deadline he announced last week for updated tax rates on imports from Japan, South Korea and a dozen other countries.
The latest postponements for Trump’s tariffs should allow more time for him to reach trade deals with other countries that could lower the tariff rates and prevent pain for international trade. They also feed into speculation that Trump may ultimately back down on his tariffs if they end up creating too much damage for the economy and for financial markets.
If Trump were to enact all his proposed tariffs on Aug. 1, they would raise the risk of a recession. That would not only hurt U.S. voters but also raise the pressure on the U.S. government’s debt level relative to the economy’s overall size, particularly after Washington approved big tax cuts that will add to the deficit.
“We therefore believe that the administration is using this latest round of tariff escalation to maximize its negotiating leverage and that it will ultimately de-escalate, especially if there is a new bout of heightened bond and stock market volatility,” according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“As usual, there are many conditions and clauses that can get these rates reduced,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “That’s probably why the market might not like the tariff talk, but it’s not panicking about it either.”
For the time being, all the uncertainty around tariffs could help keep markets unsteady. This upcoming week has several potential flashpoints that could shake things.
On Tuesday will come the latest reading on inflation across the United States. Economists expect it to show inflation accelerated to 2.6% last month from 2.4% in May.
Companies are also lining up to report how they performed during the spring. JPMorgan Chase and several other huge banks will report their latest quarterly results on Tuesday, followed by Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday and PepsiCo on Thursday.
Fastenal, a distributor of industrial and construction supplies, on Monday reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock rose 4.5%, though it also said that market conditions remain sluggish.
Shares of Kenvue jumped 3.4% after the former division of Johnson & Johnson said CEO Thibaut Mongon is stepping down. Kenvue, the maker of Listerine and Band-Aid brands, is also continuing a strategic review of its options, “including ways to simplify the company’s portfolio and how it operates,” according to Larry Merlo, the board’s chair.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding at 4.43%, where it was late Friday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe. Germany’s DAX lost 1%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.6%. But indexes rose 0.8% in South Korea and 0.3% in Hong Kong.
Chinese shares advanced after the government reported that exports rose last month as a truce in a tariffs war prompted a surge in orders ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline for reaching a new trade deal with Washington.
Some of the biggest moves in financial markets were for crypto, where bitcoin has been setting records. Bitcoin rose another 2.5% to top $121,000, according to CoinDesk.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.