Wall Street drifts lower as oil prices jump and US manufacturing slumps
NEW YORK AP U S stocks are drifting lower on Monday following certain discouraging updates on U S manufacturing the area of the financial system that President Donald Trump is trying to revive through his bargain war and tariffs The S P was lower in morning trading The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down points or as of a m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was lower Stocks sank after a overview from the Institute for Supply Management disclosed U S manufacturing activity shrank by more last month than economists expected Trump has been warning that U S businesses and households could feel a few pain as he tries to use tariffs to bring more manufacturing jobs back to the country but their on-and-off rollout has created lots of uncertainty The impact of ever-changing agreement policies of the current administration has wreaked havoc on suppliers ability to react and remain profitable one company in the transportation equipment industry explained in the ISM s survey Another in the computer and electronics products industry revealed Administration spending cuts or delays as well as tariffs are raising hell with businesses No one is willing to take on inventory vulnerability A separate description from S P Global on manufacturing came in better than expected but the overall figure masks worrying developments under the hood of the U S manufacturing market system noted Chris Williamson chief business economist at S P Global Realm Intelligence He declared uncertainty caused by tariffs has worries high about supplier delays and rising prices Monday s moves also came after more harsh rhetoric crossed between the world s two largest economies just a scant weeks after the United States and China had agreed to pause a great number of of their tariffs that had threatened to drag the financial system into a recession China blasted the United States on Monday for moves that it explained hurt China s interests including issuing AI chip export control guidelines stopping the sale of chip design system to China and planning to revoke Chinese scholar visas These practices seriously violate the consensus reached during bargain discussions in Geneva last month the Commerce Ministry reported in a report That followed President Donald Trump s accusation at the end of last week where he disclosed China was not living up to its end of the agreement that paused their tariffs against each other Hopes for lower tariffs because of commerce deals that Trump could reach with other countries were the main reasons for a big rally on Wall Street last month which brought the S P back within of its all-time high The index had dropped roughly below the mark in April But Trump on Friday communicated Pennsylvania steelworkers he s doubling the tariff on steel imports to to protect their industry a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing autos and other goods Later in a post on his Truth Social platform Trump verified the steel tariff and mentioned that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to Both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday Trump explained That helped stocks of U S steelmakers climb Nucor jumped and Steel Dynamics rallied But automakers and other heavy users of metals weakened Ford fell and General Motors reversed by A few of Monday s strongest action was in the oil territory where the price of crude jumped roughly The countries in the OPEC alliance decided to increase their production again a move that often pushes crude prices down because it puts more on the territory but analysts declared investors were widely expecting it The past weekend s attacks by Ukraine in Russia also helped to raise uncertainty about the flow of oil and gas around the world A barrel of U S crude rose to while Brent crude the international standard gained to In stock markets abroad Hong Kong s Hang Seng fell following the harsh words tossed between the United States and China A review over the weekend also mentioned that China s factory activity contracted in May although the decline slowed from April Indexes also dipped across much of the rest of Asia and Europe Japan s Nikkei was one of the biggest movers after falling In the bond realm Treasury yields rose as worries continue about how much debt the U S leadership will pile on due to plans to cut taxes and increase the deficit The yield on the -year Treasury rose to from late Friday and from just roughly two months ago That s a notable move for the bond sector Besides making it more expensive for U S households and businesses to borrow money such increases in Treasury yields can deter investors from paying high prices for stocks and other investments
