Trump’s Tariffs, Curbs on China Hurt Asian Stocks: Markets Wrap – Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled for direction and 10-year Treasury yields slipped to the lowest in more than two months amid concerns that US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and measures to restrict investments between the US and China will hurt global economic growth.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Trump Targets $128 Billion California High-Speed Rail Project

• Trump Asserts Power Over NYC, Proclaims ‘Long Live the King’

• NYC’s Congestion Pricing Pulls In $48.6 Million in First Month

• NYC to Shut Migrant Center in Former Hotel as Crisis Eases

• As Visitors Discover Ghent, the City Is Trying to Prevent a Tourism Takeover

Europe’s Stoxx 600 benchmark was little changed at the open. Basic resources and technology stocks led declines, while banks and health care stocks rose. US equity futures pointed to a lower open after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street at the end of trading Monday. Asian stocks fell for a second day. The yen gained and gold held near a record high.

One month into Trump’s presidency, uncertainty on how his policies will affect US economic growth has prompted investors to cut risk and flock to safer havens such as gold. Trump signaled Monday that tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will go ahead, while his administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry.

“The continued signaling of new tariffs introduces unnecessary volatility into the markets,” said Rajeev De Mello, a global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management. “A more accelerated U.S. retreat from global leadership raises risks for multinational corporations and global investors that have long benefited from a stable, rules-based international order.”

Among individual stock moves in Europe, Fresenius Medical Care AG shares rose after positive guidance. Unilever Plc declined after Hein Schumacher unexpectedly stepped down as chief executive. Heidelberg Materials AG dropped afte reporting results.

Meanwhile, Trump also deepened Washington’s split with its allies over Ukraine, withdrawing US condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion at the United Nations and among Group-of-Seven countries as he aims to end the war on terms agreeable to Moscow.

Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter.

This comes after a directive set the stage for a more muscular use of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, a secretive panel that scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to buy US companies or property, to thwart Chinese investment.