U.S. Stocks Little Changed Despite Trump's New Tariff Threats

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the modest pullback seen during last Friday's session.

Currently, the major averages are narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq is up 33.86 points or 0.2 percent at 20,619.38, the Dow is down 10.50 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 44,361.01 and the S&P 500 1.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 6,258.24.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes despite President Donald Trump's threats to impose 30 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico beginning August 1st.

Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social early this morning that the U.S. has been "ripen off" on trade for decades, costing the country trillions of dollars.

"Countries should sit back and say, 'Thank you for the many year's long free ride, but we know you now have to do what's right for America,'" Trump said. "We should respond by saying, 'Thank you for understanding the situation we are in. Greatly appreciated!'"

Meanwhile, the EU announced it will suspend the implementation of its trade countermeasures against the U.S. until early August to allow more time for a negotiated settlement to the issue.

Responding to Trump's letter at a news conference on Sunday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, "We will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures till early August. At the same time, we will continue to prepare further countermeasures so we are fully prepared."

"We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till the 1st of August (to negotiate)," she told reporters in Brussels.

The EU's retaliatory tariff on $25 billion worth of American goods for the 25 percent import duty that the U.S. imposed on steel and aluminum imports from Europe was set to come into force Monday.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, including reports on consumer and producer prices, retail sales and industrial production.

Earnings season also picks up steam this week, with Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Jonson (JNJ) and Netflix (NFLX) among the big name companies due to report their quarterly results.

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.

Oil service stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, however, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunging by 3.0 percent.

Oil producer, steel and housing stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while some strength is visible among brokerage stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.732 percent.