Global Markets, U.S. Futures Lower on Trade Tensions

By Dow Jones Newswires StaffGlobal stocks and U.S. futures started the new month lower after President Trump threatened to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, and trade tensions escalated between China and the U.S.Late Friday, Trump said he would increase tariffs on steel and aluminum up to 50%, starting Wednesday. The president also accused China of breaking a trade truce agreed in mid-May, which China has denied.According to a statement from China's Commerce Ministry, Beijing has acted responsibly and upheld the consensus reached at the economic and trade talks in Geneva.U.S. futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.4% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%.Asian stock indexes mostly declined as sentiment was rattled by concerns over a potential resurgence of the U.S.-China trade war and the threat of higher steel and aluminum tariffs. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.3%, while South Korea's Kospi closed flat. Steel giants such as South Korea's Posco and Hyundai Steel closed down 2.4% and 2.7%, respectively. Japan's largest steel manufacturer, Nippon Steel, ended down 1.6%. Mainland Chinese stock markets were closed on Monday.In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index fell 0.3% and Germany's DAX was down 0.55% after hitting new records last week. Car stocks weakened on Trump's steel tariff plan. Jeep maker Stellantis was the biggest decliner among European carmakers, down 3.9%. Mercedes-Benz and Renault shed more than 3%, while Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche and Volvo Car all fell more than 1%. London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.05% while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 index was down 0.2%.In commodities, Brent crude was up 2.2% at $64.18 a barrel and WTI gained 2.6% to $62.36 a barrel. Oil was supported by rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine after Ukraine launched drone attacks deep inside Russian territory. This comes amid OPEC+'s additional 411,000 barrels of oil a day production increase for July.Gold futures rose on heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic risk, increasing its safe-haven appeal. Futures rose up 1.9% at $3,379.90 a troy ounce.The German 10-year Bund yield rose by four basis points to 2.549% from 2.505%, and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed by three basis points to 4.441% from 4.408%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index dropped 0.5% to 95.33.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]