Wall Street today: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq rise; trade tariffs in focus

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 59.6 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 43,900.49. The S&P 500 rose 13.8 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 5,968.33​, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 76.1 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 18,923.358.

A set of tariffs announced by Donald Trump on Canada, Mexico and China are set to take effect on Tuesday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was drifting around 4.24 per cent. 

Among the megacaps, Nvidia stock fell 2.1 per cent, Elon Musk’s Tesla gained 2.8 per cent.

Kroger shares lost 1.3 per cent after the grocery chain’s Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen resigned following an internal investigation into his personal conduct.

Gold prices rose on Monday driven by a weaker US dollar and safe-haven buying.

Spot gold gained 0.5 per cent to $2,873.11 an ounce as of 09:29 am ET (1429 GMT). US gold futures rose 1.3 per cent to $2,884.50.

Spot silver was up 1.7 per cent at $31.68 an ounce.

“I think ultimately we are in a very bullish market and gold can get much higher than $3,000… with tariffs and possible retaliation I still think you’re seeing central banks come in and buy,” said Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

The dollar index dropped by 0.8%, moving away from a more than two-week high hit in the previous session, reflecting weakness that makes dollar-priced gold less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

Trump is expected to decide on Monday what level of tariffs he will impose effective from early Tuesday on imports from Canada and Mexico. He had vowed to impose 25% tariffs on the two countries’ imports but this was paused for a month which expires on Tuesday.

Last week, Trump threatened China with an extra 10% duty, also set to take effect on Tuesday, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff.

Investors’ focus is also shifting to the ADP employment report due on Wednesday and the U.S. non-farm payrolls report due on Friday for more clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.

Expectations around the Fed, which has held interest rates steady since December, are uncertain now ahead of the data.

Despite being widely viewed as a hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainty, non-yielding gold becomes less attractive to investors when interest rates rise.

, platinum gained 1.3% to $959.90 and palladium added 2.1% to $938.96.

“We see room for larger gains in silver as the gold rally consolidates and global industrial production signals a modest recovery,” UBS analysts said in a note.

Oil prices were little changed on Monday as investors await the outcome of efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Brent crude rose 31 cents, or 0.43 per cent, to $73.12 a barrel by 1403 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 25 cents, or 0.36 per cent, at $70.01.