Dollar, Gold Rise After Trump’s Latest Trade Salvo: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — The dollar strengthened and gold hit a record high as President Donald Trump’s plan for steel and aluminum import tariffs brought fresh disruption to markets. US stock futures signaled a rebound from Friday’s slump.

The yen and the Canadian dollar were the main losers against the greenback as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to its highest in nearly a week. Like the dollar, bullion climbed as the president’s latest trade threats helped boost demand for haven assets.

S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures contracts gained at least 0.5%. The tariff news lifted American metals stocks, with United States Steel Corp. surging as much as 15% in premarket. Alcoa Corp. rallied 5%. McDonald’s Corp. rose as it reported higher fourth-quarter sales. 

In Europe, BP Plc shares surged the most since 2020 as Bloomberg News reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management had built a stake in the oil company.

Trump’s intention to announce a 25% levy on steel and aluminum Monday added to already tense sentiment before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s semiannual congressional testimony and the US President’s possible unveiling of reciprocal tariffs on “everyone” this week. Trump said the metals tariffs would apply to imports from all countries, though he didn’t specify when they would take effect.

“Our view in tariffs remain that they will cause volatility, are a negotiating tool and will eventually be not as bad as feared,” said Mohit Kumar at Jefferies International.

The gains in US stock futures suggest some buyers may want to get back into the market following the 1% selloff retreat in the S&P 500 at the end of last week. There are a number of key events on the radar in coming days, including Powell’s speech and US CPI data.

Separately, Trump said Elon Musk’s government efficiency team has found irregularities while examining data at the US Treasury Department. Benchmark 10-year Treasuries were steady.

Powell will deliver his semi-annual testimony at a time when officials are signaling they’re not in a hurry to further ease policy. Nonfarm payrolls moderated last month and revisions show US job gains were softer but still solid in 2024. Inflation data due this week may help buttress those arguments and underpin market pricing for just one Fed rate cut this year.

Elsewhere in commodities markets Monday, European natural gas prices rose to a two-year high as colder temperatures accelerate the depletion of the region’s storage facilities. Benchmark futures rose as much as 4.1% to the highest since February 2023.

Aluminum futures in London — the global benchmark — were steady as traders waited for more details on when and how the latest tariffs would operate. Copper was little changed.

Some key events this week: 

• China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods are scheduled to take effect, Monday
• ECB President Christine Lagarde testifies to European Parliament, Monday
• Norway GDP, Tuesday
• BOE Governor Andrew Bailey speaks, Tuesday
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gives semiannual monetary policy testimony to Senate Banking Committee, Tuesday
• Brazil CPI, Tuesday
• India CPI, industrial production, Wednesday
• US CPI, Wednesday
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies to House Financial Services panel, Wednesday
• UK industrial production, GDP, Thursday
• Germany CPI, Thursday
• Eurozone industrial production, Thursday
• Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache gives annual address, Thursday
• Eurozone GDP, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% as of 8:26 a.m. New York time
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.8%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%
• The MSCI World Index was little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
• The euro was little changed at $1.0321
• The British pound was little changed at $1.2392
• The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 152.00 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 2.4% to $97,526.29
• Ether rose 3.6% to $2,644.81

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.49%
• Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.37%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.46%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $72.01 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 1.5% to $2,904.47 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

 

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess, Jake Lloyd-Smith, Robert Brand and Catherine Bosley.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.