Daily Fundamental Analysis: US Indices Kick Off June with Small Gains Despite Tariff Escalation

US stock indices started the month of June with modest gains across the board. The S&P 500 was up 0.41%, Nasdaq up 0.67%, and Dow up 0.08%.

Markets rose despite U.S.-China tensions escalating over trade deal violations. The EU also opposed Trump’s planned steel tariff increase to 50%, threatening countermeasures.

Markets face pressure from Trump’s plan to double steel tariffs to 50% by June 4, while U.S.-China trade talks may resume this week.

In early trading on Tuesday, US stock futures dropped slightly following Monday’s positive start to June trading. S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq 100 futures all fell about 0.4%.

Asian markets traded mixed today after Chinese manufacturing contracted sharply in May. The PMI fell to 48.3, below expectations of 50.6, which reflects U.S. tariff impacts. China rejected U.S. accusations of trade deal violations, instead blaming Washington for non-compliance.

Hang Seng index rose 1.13%, China’s CSI 300 gained 0.48%, while Japan’s indices traded mostly flat. Australia advanced 0.48%,. South Korean markets remained closed for elections.

In the commodities market, oil futures gained over 3% after OPEC+ maintained steady production increases. WTI rose to $62.80 and Brent to $64.87 OPEC+ agreed to boost July production by 411,000 barrels daily, in line with the initial expectations and matching previous months’ increases.

And in the Forex market, the US dollar continued its decline against all major currencies. The dollar index fell 0.70% to 98.73 nearing its 3-year low of 97.92.

EURUSD gained 95 points in yesterday’s trading ending the day at 1.1439. GBPUSD was up 89 points to 1.3545, and USDJPY dropped 145 points to 142.68. The US dollar managed to recover some of these losses in early trading today.