Shares opened mostly lower in Europe on Tuesday after a mixed session in Asia, where Chinese markets advanced as they reopened after “Golden Week” holidays.
Germany's DAX fell 1.2% to 23,076.96, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.6% to 7,682.91. Britain's FTSE 100 was unchanged at 8,596.40.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5% lower as investors watched to see what U.S. President Donald Trump does with his tariff policies.
When asked at a routine briefing about comments Trump’s comments on the NBC TV network that he won’t cancel tariffs on China to pave the way for trade talks, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated Beijing's stance that the U.S. side “should stop threatening and pressuring and engage in dialogue with China on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual benefit.”
“If they want to fight, we will fight to the end; if they want to talk, the door is open,” Lin Jian said.
Late last week, China's Commerce Ministry said it was evaluating various U.S. missives about holding talks.
Still, Chinese markets advanced after reopening from “Golden Week” holidays. The Shanghai Composite index added 1% to 3,311.89, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.7% at 22,651.65.
A monthly survey measuring future activity in China's services sector fell to its lowest level ever, excluding the pandemic, in a further sign the escalation of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war is hitting the world's second-largest economy.
A drastic increase in tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese products, to 145%, has caused a sharp drop in shipping and other logistics.
“Overall optimism among Chinese firms weakened to the lowest level since this series began in April 2012, resulting in further job cuts in April,” said the report by Caixin, a financial media group.
However, reports showed a sharp increase in tourism revenues during the holidays that ended Monday, suggesting robust domestic demand, economists said.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 8,148.40.
India’s Sensex fell 0.2%, while Taiwan’s Taiex slipped less than 0.1%. In Indonesia, the JSX was up 1%.
Oil prices gained more than $1 early Tuesday, bouncing back from a 4-year low following a decision by the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations to raise their output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1.
U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up $1.10 to $58.23 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, surged $1.15 to $61.38 per barrel.
On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 5,650.38, ending a nine-day winning streak, its longest since 2004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite shed 0.7%.
Berkshire Hathaway fell 5.1% after legendary investor Warren Buffett announced he would step down as its CEO by the end of the year after six decades at the helm. Buffett will still be its board chairman.
Markets have been absorbing the shock of tariffs and the growing trade war, which has reignited concerns about inflation.
Such issues will overshadow the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday, when it is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady. The Fed cut the rate three times in 2024 before taking a breather to watch what happens with inflation, which has been hovering just above the Fed's target rate of 2%.
While still resilient, the U.S. economy shrank 0.3% in the first quarter, the first drop in three years.
Ford Motor Co. said Monday it expects to take a $1.5 billion hit to its operating profit from tariffs this year. Its shares fell 2.5% in after hours trading.
The latest salvo in the trade war from Trump came Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform. He said he has authorized a 100% tariff on movies that are produced outside of the U.S. The impact is unclear, as it is common for films to include production at multiple locations around the world.
Also early Tuesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.36% from 4.35% late Monday.
The dollar fell to 142.96 Japanese yen from 143.70 yen. The euro was at $1.1339, up from $1.1317.