A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on May 30, 2025, in New York City.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Stock futures fell Monday, the first trading day of June, as global trade tensions increased.
S&P 500 futures traded down 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.4% lower. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 83 points, or 0.2%.
China pushed back against U.S. accusations that it had violated a temporary trade agreement. Instead, the country blamed Washington for failing to uphold the deal — a sign that negotiations between the world’s two largest economies are deteriorating.
Tensions reignited following a brief pause after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in Geneva and agreed to a 90-day suspension of most tariffs.
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett suggested on Sunday that President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping could have a conversation about trade as soon as this week.
Tensions between the U.S. and European Union also heightened after Trump said he would double steel tariffs to 50%. The EU warned that this “undermines” negotiations, with a spokesperson adding: “This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
On Friday, the S&P 500 closed out the month of May with a more than 6% gain, its best monthly performance since November 2023. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged more than 9% for the month and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 4%.
That said, Morgan Stanley’s Chris Toomey is skeptical about whether May’s market momentum will continue.
“We’re probably still range-bound,” the managing director told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Friday. “The concern we’ve got is that while I think we’ve taken [out] the worst-case scenario with regards to the ‘liberation day’ [tariffs], we’re in a situation where I think the market’s right now probably pricing in the best-case scenario.”