(Updates prices throughout with U.S. markets close, oil and

gold settlement)

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All major stock market indexes have had a strong month

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Crude and gold prices weaken

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Dollar index on course for fifth straight month of losses

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Global stocks finished down

on Friday but notched a weekly gain and the biggest monthly

increase since late 2023, despite markets having been roiled by

uncertainty over the Trump administration's tariff policies.

Sentiments were initially buoyed at the start of the week by

signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe,

after President Donald Trump delayed planned tariffs on imports

from the EU. Investor focus then shifted to earnings of

artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ), which

reported better-than-expected results mid-week.

But markets were briefly shaken following an unexpected

ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade striking down

Trump's so-called Liberation Day tariffs, triggering a court

drama that saw an appellate court temporarily reinstate them.

Trump said on Friday that China had violated an agreement

with the U.S. to mutually roll back tariffs and trade

restrictions for critical minerals, and issued a new veiled

threat to get tougher with Beijing.

"It's been quite a week," said Mark Malek, chief investment

officer at Siebert.NXT. "Within four days we got a compressed

version of what we've had for the entire month, which is the

tug-of-war between forces that drove markets higher last year

and the prior year - that being AI and technology growth stocks

- and then this looming challenge we have with all these

administration tariffs."

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished

lower, dragged down by weaknesses in technology, energy and

consumer discretionary stocks. The Dow ended higher after

erasing early losses.

All three indexes finished the week and the month higher,

with the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq index registering their

biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13% to

42,270.07, the S&P 500 fell 0.01% to 5,911.69 and the

Nasdaq Composite fell 0.32% to 19,113.77.

European shares finished higher by 0.14%, notching

a weekly gain and adding 4% for the month of May. MSCI's

broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

closed up 0.74% overnight, ending the week lower

but gaining nearly 5% for the month - making it the biggest

monthly gain since September 2024.

MSCI's main world index ended down 0.07% to

879.63, but gained 1.32% for the week and 5.53% in May - the

biggest monthly gain since November 2023.

"We would have thought prior to this week that markets were

becoming numb to this discussion of tariffs and a lot it has

been factored in, but apparently that's not the case," Malek

added.

Data showed on Friday that U.S. consumers increased their

spending marginally in April, and the closely watched Personal

Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.1% last month, in

line with expectations.

Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell had their first

face-to-face meeting on Thursday.

"Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy

except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on

incoming economic information and what that means for the

outlook," a Fed statement said afterwards.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell

2.6 basis points to 4.398%. The 30-year bond yield

rose 0.2 basis points to 4.9254% after reversing earlier losses.

The dollar was higher against major peers including the euro

and on track for a monthly gain against the Japanese yen. The

dollar weakened 0.15% to 143.95 against the yen, while

the euro was down 0.12% at $1.135050.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

rose 0.14% to 99.394. It was on track for a fifth straight month

of losses, weighed down by tariff uncertainty.

Oil prices settled down, as investors weigh a potentially

larger OPEC+ output hike for July.

Brent crude futures settled down 0.39% at $63.90 a

barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished down

0.25% at $60.79 a barrel.

Gold prices slipped as the dollar edged higher. Spot gold

fell 0.7% to $3,292.78 an ounce. U.S. gold futures

settled 0.9% lower at $3,315.40.