Trading on Wall Street fell flat as worries spread over President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China once he takes office, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially unchanged.
On Monday, stocks rose on Wall Street, led by shares likely to benefit from lower interest rates. Treasury yields eased after Trump said he wants Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager, to be his Treasury Secretary.
A U.S. report coming on Wednesday could influence how much the Fed may cut interest rates. Economists expect it to show that an underlying inflation trend the Fed prefers to use accelerated to 2.8% last month from 2.7% in September. Higher inflation would make the Fed more reluctant to cut rates as deeply or as quickly as it would otherwise.
Much focus has been on the resilience of U.S. shoppers, given high prices and still-high interest rates.
In other dealings early today, benchmark U.S. crude added 45 cents to $69.39 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 40 cents to $73.88 per barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 154.02 Japanese yen from 154.20 yen.
