July 7 -

TRADING DAY

Making sense of the forces driving global markets

By Alden Bentley, Editor in Charge, Americas Finance and

Markets

Jamie is enjoying some well-deserved time off, but the

Reuters markets team will still keep you up to date on what

moved markets today and we'll take a close look at how markets

are digesting the latest U.S. tariff headlines and how they

reacted to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's move to reclaim political

influence. I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to

reach out at [email protected]

Today's Key Market Moves

* US stocks fell on nervousness about Wednesday's tariff

deadline,

while Tesla tumbled after Elon Musk unveiled a new political

party

* Treasury yields rose as trade talks dragged on and

investors

prepared for auctions this week

* The U.S. dollar firmed

* Crude oil prices rose despite OPEC plan to increase supply

in

August

* Gold weakened on the back of the firmer dollar

Today's key reads

US signals trade announcements imminent as deadline looms

Tesla slides as Musk's 'America Party' heightens investor

worries

Tesla short sellers set to pocket about $1.4 billion in

profits after stock slump

Trump says will impose 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea

Tariff headlines and moving deadlines

Wall Street paused its bull run to start Monday on the back

foot bracing for a barrage of tariff headlines before Wednesday,

which U.S. President Donald Trump set as the expiration of a

postponement he declared in the wake of the April 2 "Liberation

Day" meltdown.

While last week's record highs for the S&P 500 and

Nasdaq suggest that markets are learning to take the

White House's fluid trade tactics in stride, they did pull back

even more at midday after Trump said that from August 1 he will

impose 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea, two of the U.S.'s

most stalwart trade allies who have yet to reach trade deals

with Trump. Trump has promised to notify countries that haven't

reached deals by the July 9 deadline of what their new tariffs

will be as of August 1, which now becomes the next big calendar

notation for investors. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said

more trade announcements were likely by Wednesday.

Monday's pullback aside, the stock market has more than

recovered from the April panic, riding out numerous other

potential major risks, from Trump's threats to fire Fed Chair

Jerome Powell, to the U.S. bombing of Iran nuclear sites to last

week's passage of the "Big Beautiful Bill" that economists

predict will add trillions to the U.S. debt, any tariff revenue

notwithstanding. Only the dollar remains deep underwater.

Although it bounced nicely on Monday, it is off 7% against the

euro since April 2, and the broader dollar index is down about

6%, while the S&P 500 is up 9.5%. The 10-year Treasury note's

benchmark yield is only about 20 basis points higher than its

April 2 close, having weathered global concern that the U.S. was

no longer a safe place to be invested.

Speaking of the "big beautiful" tax bill, Tesla CEO and

former-Trump-ally- turned enemy Elon Musk declared it would

bankrupt America and announced the formation of a third U.S.

political party, the America Party. Investors immediately tanked

Tesla shares, which also weighed on Wall Street, recalling how

his stint running Trump's Department of Government Efficiency

was a costly distraction from the business of making electric

vehicles and rockets.

What could move markets tomorrow?

* No major U.S. data, Fed speakers or other events

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect

the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is

committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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