(Updates to afternoon U.S. trading)
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US stocks dip after tariff plans confirmed
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Dollar gains versus euro, yen
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10-year Treasury yields jump
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Oil prices tick down
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Gold hit record
By Lawrence Delevingne and Harry Robertson
BOSTON/LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) -
Wall Street
stocks slipped
and the dollar gained, on Friday after President Donald
Trump announced tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, capping a
volatile week for markets.
The U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along
with 10% on China, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said
on Friday, but she declined to say whether there will be
exemptions.
Reuters earlier quoted sources familiar with the tariff
deliberations as saying that Trump would announce tariffs on
Canadian and Mexican imports on Saturday but delay collection of
the duties until March 1 and offer a limited process for certain
imports to be exempted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.56%, the U.S.
S&P 500 stock index lost 0.25%, while the tech-heavy
Nasdaq was flat, set to end the week slightly lower.
The Nasdaq had dropped 2.9% on Monday as the surging popularity
of cheap Chinese AI model DeepSeek shook investor confidence in
U.S. tech stocks and sent chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ) plunging
17%. But earnings reports and forecasts this week from Meta
and Tesla helped sentiment recover somewhat.
Apple ( AAPL ) initially added to the cautiously optimistic mood
late on Thursday when it forecast relatively strong sales
growth, but its stock was last down about 1.5% Friday.
European shares closed at a record high, led by technology
stocks, as earnings from companies such as Novartis and
Hexagon overshadowed concerns over economic recovery.
TARIFFS LOOM
In currency markets, the dollar index, which measures
the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen
and the euro, rose 0.3%
Options contracts showed investors were preparing for potential
swings in the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso .
The Canadian dollar was last down 0.17% and the peso was 0.3%
higher in choppy trading.
Trump is threatening punitive duties if Canada and Mexico do
not take stronger action to halt the flow of the deadly opioid
fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the United States, as well
as illegal migration.
"There is big market complacency in terms of the manner that
the market could digest the tariffs," said Michael Nizard,
multi-asset chief investment officer at Edmond de Rothschild.
The euro and sterling both declined about 0.2% versus the
dollar .
Data on Friday showed the U.S. personal consumption
expenditures price index rose 0.3% last month after an unrevised
0.1% gain in November, in line with economists' expectations.
"Disinflation continues, and should continue given
underlying trends," David Alcaly, lead macroeconomic strategist
at Lazard Asset Management, said in an email.
"Concerns about recent bumpiness are overblown and have more
to do with the potential for inflationary policy change like
tariffs than with current conditions."
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields jumped following the Trump
tariff plans and were last up 6.1 basis points to 4.573%
.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. economic growth slowed in the
fourth quarter, but remained robust enough for investors to
expect the Federal Reserve - which held interest rates on
Wednesday - to lower borrowing costs only gradually this year.
Euro zone short-dated government bond yields were on track to
record their biggest weekly drop in months, after a raft of weak
economic data led traders to ramp up their bets on future rate
cuts from the European Central Bank. The ECB cut rates on
Thursday and signaled more easing was coming.
Oil prices edged lower ahead of the new tariffs against Canada
and Mexico. U.S. crude fell 0.48% to $72.38 a barrel and
Brent dropped to $76.77 per barrel, down 0.13% on the
day.
Gold prices surpassed
the key $2,800 mark for the first time on Friday, fuelled by
a rush to safety. It was last trading at $2,796.