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US flags August 1 as tariff deadline for some countries
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Longer-dated Treasuries up
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Tesla shares fall on Musk's political ambition
(Updates to early US afternoon trading)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes
declined while the dollar strengthened against major currencies
on Monday as President Donald Trump unveiled 25% tariffs on
goods from Japan and South Korea and investors awaited further
announcements in the White House's trade negotiations.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury
yields edged
higher.
Trump
said on Monday
the U.S. would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Japan
and South Korea beginning August 1 as he unveiled the first two
of what he has said will be a wave of letters to trading
partners outlining the new levies they face.
U.S.-listed shares of Japanese automotive companies
fell, with Toyota Motor down 4.1% and Honda Motor
off by 3.8%.
The United States will make several trade announcements in
the next 48 hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier
on Monday, with a deadline set for Wednesday to get trade deals
done.
"We're down (in stocks) after the long weekend, and it's
somewhat of a critical week in terms of the tariffs," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York.
"The prospect of what may or may not happen with the trade
deals... is causing investors to be somewhat cautious."
Tariffs are expected to increase prices and to slow down
growth, though uncertainty over the ultimate policies may be a
bigger drag as it leads businesses to postpone decisions.
S&P 500 companies are soon expected to begin reporting
results on the second quarter.
Trump announced in April a 10% base tariff rate on most
countries and higher "reciprocal" rates ranging up to 50%, with
an original deadline of this Wednesday.
However, he also said levies could range in value from
"maybe 60% or 70%," and threatened an extra 10% on countries
aligning themselves with the "anti-American policies" of the
BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 515.77 points,
or 1.15%, to 44,314.92, the S&P 500 fell 56.23 points, or
0.90%, to 6,222.20 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 195.58
points, or 0.97%, to 20,404.31.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla shares were down
7.4% after CEO Elon Musk announced the formation of a U.S.
political party named the "American Party."
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe
fell 7.06 points, or 0.76%, to 918.65. The pan-European STOXX
600 index closed up 0.44%.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes
rose 5.1 basis points to 4.391%, from 4.34% late on Thursday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback
against a basket of currencies, rose 0.58% to 97.53, with the
euro down 0.59% at $1.1709. Against the Japanese yen
, the dollar strengthened 1.04% to 146.02.
Minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting are also due
this week. Investors are weighing how many times the Fed is
likely to cut interest rates this year after jobs data for June
on Thursday showed that employers added more jobs than
economists had forecast.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to cut its
rates by a quarter point to 3.60% at a meeting on Tuesday, the
third easing this cycle, and markets imply an eventual
destination for rates of 2.85% or 3.10%.
U.S. crude rose 0.7% to $67.47 a barrel and Brent
rose to $69.21 per barrel, up 1.33% on the day.