01:46 PM EDT, 06/02/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes were mixed while most government bond yields rose after midday Monday as investor sentiment turned downbeat after China, the European Union, and Canada responded to President Donald Trump's plan announced Friday to double tariffs on steel and aluminum effective Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 42,065.5, while the S&P 500 stood little changed at 5,909.2 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 19,178.1. Consumer discretionary, industrials, and real estate led the underperformers, while energy, technology, and communication services were among the biggest gainers intraday.

Trump said he plans to double tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports to 50% and accused China of "totally violating" the Geneva trade pact.

"The main risk-off catalyst is pessimism toward trade policy developments," Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in a note.

The European Commission said Saturday the plan "undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution," Reuters reported. A spokesperson for the European Commission reportedly said the European Union is ready to impose "countermeasures."

Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said Saturday the move "essentially closes the US market to our domestic industry for half of its production," Global News reported.

"It is vital that the Government of Canada responds immediately to fully reinstate retaliatory steel tariffs to match the American tariffs and to implement as quickly as possible new tariffs at our own borders to stop unfairly traded steel from entering Canada," she said.

China responded to Trump's allegations on Friday that Beijing is cheating on the Geneva trade agreement by accusing the US administration of violating the Swiss pact by applying tighter controls on artificial intelligence chips and canceling Chinese student visas, according to the Scotiabank note.

"If the US insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," a Yahoo Finance news report cited the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, CNBC cited a senior White House official Monday.

Gold futures surged 2.5% to $3,398.60 per ounce and while silver futures soared 5.1% to $34.72.

Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 4.6 basis points to 4.46% and the two-year traded 2.9 basis points higher at 3.94%.

The ICE US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback's performance against the world's major currencies, slid 0.6% to 98.85.

Several steel and aluminum stocks advanced intraday. Steel Dynamics ( STLD ) surged 9.4%, the top performer on the S&P 500. Nucor ( NUE ) and Newmont ( NEM ) jumped 8.5% and 5.6%, respectively, among the top three gainers on the index.

In US economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index fell to 48.5 in May from 48.7 in April, compared with expectations for 49.5 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

US construction spending fell 0.4% in April, versus a 0.2% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and a downwardly revised 0.8% decline in March.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures soared 3.5% to $62.91 a barrel.