US STOCKS-Wall St cuts losses after Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico for a month

Triumph

03/02/2025 17:31

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click  LIVE/  or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

        * 
      Automakers, chip firms cut losses on Mexico tariff delay
    

        * 
      Wall Street's "fear gauge" falls back from one-week high
    

        * 
      Indexes down: Dow 0.34%, S&P 500 0.80%, Nasdaq 1.23%
    

  
 (Updates prices with afternoon levels)
    By Shashwat Chauhan
       Feb 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes pared
losses on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump delayed new
tariffs on Mexico after his orders to levy steep tariffs on key
trading partners sparked a global scramble to safe-haven assets
earlier in the session.
    Trump said on Monday he has paused new tariffs on Mexico for
one month after the nation agreed to reinforce its northern
border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of
illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl. 
    Talking about the negotiations with Mexico, Steve Sosnick,
chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, said this "raises
the possibility that there's some negotiating room with either
Canada, China or both."
    "Its much more encouraging to the markets (that) there's
this pause and that is exactly why the market shot higher."
    However, the New York Times cited a senior Canadian
government official saying that Canada is not optimistic about
getting a similar reprieve.
    Over the weekend, Trump had imposed hefty new tariffs of 25%
on imports from Mexico and Canada, and 10% on China - which he
said may cause "short-term" pain for Americans.
    Analysts at Citi noted that "if tariffs persist, markets are
likely to move further (down) and inflationary effects will
emerge."
    
    At 11:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI 
fell 151.08 points, or 0.34%, to 44,393.58, the S&P 500  .SPX 
lost 48.59 points, or 0.80%, to 5,991.94 and the Nasdaq
Composite  .IXIC  lost 241.23 points, or 1.23%, to 19,386.11. 
    Six of the 11 major S&P sectors turned higher, with
defensive ones such as health care  .SPXHC  and consumer staples
 .SPLRCS  leading gains. 
    Other megacap and growth stocks were also off lows, with
Nvidia  NVDA.O  now down 3.3%, while a gauge of semiconductor
stocks was now only down 1.5%. 
    Legacy automakers - who have been roiled by the impending
tariffs - also recouped most of their losses with both Ford
 F.N  and General Motors  GM.N  down over 1% each.
    The economically sensitive Russell 2000 smallcaps index
 .RUT  recovered from its three-week low, now down 1.1%.   
    Treasury yields edged down as investors fled to safer assets
such as bonds and gold. Spot gold  XAU=  scaled an all-time
high.
    The Cboe Volatility Index  .VIX , known as Wall Street's
"fear gauge", dropped back from its highest level in a week,
last at 17.72 points.
    The quarterly earnings, meanwhile, remained in full swing,
with Tyson Foods  TSN.N  gaining 1.7% after the meat packer
raised its annual sales forecast, while IDEXX Laboratories
 IDXX.O  added 11% after the animal diagnostics maker beat
fourth-quarter profit and revenue estimates.  
    On the data front, U.S. manufacturing grew for the first
time in more than two years in January, data from the Institute
for Supply Management (ISM) showed. 
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.04-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, and by a 2.54-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
    The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and 20 new lows,
while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 29 new highs and 187 new
lows.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
America's biggest trade partners    https://reut.rs/40zB2vI
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)
 ((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))