Wall Street: US stocks head low, crude oil rises after OPEC's production hike
U.S. stocks are drifting lower and giving back a small bit of their sprint through May, which was their best month since 2023. The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in early trading Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 174 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.2%.
The price of crude oil jumped more than 4%. The countries in the OPEC alliance decided to increase their production again, but analysts said investors were widely expecting it. Attacks by Ukraine in Russia over the weekend also helped raise uncertainty about the flow of oil and gas around the world.
After closing out its best month since 2023, Wall Street was poised to open with losses on Monday as the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated over the weekend, contributing to broader market anxiety and a jump in oil prices.
Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% before the opening bell Monday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.3%. Nasdaq futures retreated 0.6%.
In addition to rising tensions in Russia-Ukraine war, oil prices and oil company stocks climbed after OPEC decided on a more modest increase in output than was expected.
Devon Energy rose 2.5%, while Chevron, Exxon and ConocoPhillips all rose between 1% and 1.5%.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $2.54, more than 4%, to $63.33 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up $2.34 at $65.12 per barrel.
Steel companies were on an even bigger ride after President Donald Trump on Friday told Pennsylvania steelworkers he's doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% 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 confirmed the steel tariff and said that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50%. Both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday, Trump said.
Nucor and Steel Dynamics both rose around 10%, while Cleveland-Cliffs soared a whopping 25%. Shares of U.S. Steel have already taken off this year as it has become increasingly clear that Trump was going to allow some kind of major deal between U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel.
Speaking Friday at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in suburban Pittsburgh, Trump talked about the likely partnership in which Nippon will invest in the iconic American steelmaker.
In a light week for corporate earnings reports, both Dollar Tree and Dollar General report in the coming days.
Also Monday, UnitedHealth Group opens its annual meeting, just weeks after its CEO stepped down citing personal reasons. The nation's largest health insurer, whose shares are down 40% this year, also suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng initially plunged more than 2% as Beijing and Washington traded harsh words over trade.
China blasted the U.S. for issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas.
U.S. chipmakers were broadly lower early Monday.
A report over the weekend that China's factory activity contracted in May, although the decline slowed from April as the country reached a deal with the U.S. to slash President Donald Trump's sky-high tariffs, further undermined market sentiment.
But the Hang Seng closed just 0.6% lower, at 23,157.97. Markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.6% to 23,157.97 as China and the U.S. accused each other of breaching their tariff agreement reached in Geneva last month.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 1.3% to 37,470.67, while the Kospi in Seoul added 0.1% to 2,698.97.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.2% to 8,414.10.
India's Sensex lost 0.4% while the Taiex in Taiwan fell 1.6%.
Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Germany's DAX retreated 0.3% and the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.5% British FTSE 100 gained 0.1%.
In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar fell to 142.72 Japanese yen from 143.87 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1418 from $1.1351.
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