NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main stock indexes slipped on Monday after data showed that new orders at US factories fell in February, while investors awaited details on tariffs on top trading partners that are expected to kick in at the end of the day.
An ISM survey showed manufacturing was steady in February, but a measure tracking forward-looking new orders contracted to 48.6 last month from 55.1 in January.
Although, business activity is in expansion territory by a narrow margin, given the tariff uncertainty in the near term, it is likely that data will continue to reflect a cooling economy until there is more clarity on US President Donald Trump’s trade policies, said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC.
Trump is expected to decide what levels of tariffs he will impose early on Tuesday on Canada and Mexico amid last-minute negotiations over border security and efforts to halt the inflow of fentanyl opioids.
At 11:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 98.69 points, or 0.23%, to 43,742.22, the S&P 500 lost 10.48 points, or 0.18%, to 5,944.02 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 64.37 points, or 0.36%, to 18,780.35.
Technology led declines among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors with a 0.9% drop, dragged down by a 4.5% fall in chip giant Nvidia.
Defensive sectors such as healthcare and consumer staples gained about 0.6% each, while cyclical stocks such as materials and energy dipped after the data.
Recent reports of softening consumer demand have spurred fears of a slowdown as markets prepare for higher inflation once Donald Trump administration’s tariff policies take full effect.
Wall Street’s main indexes logged their first monthly decline of 2025 in February, during which the Nasdaq also came close to a 10% drop from its all-time high due to fears of a rise in inflation induced by tariffs and other factors.
Trump has also threatened that an extra 10% duty on imports from China will also take effect on Tuesday, which could spark a retaliation from Beijing.
U.S-listed shares of Chinese companies fell, with Nio and JD.com off about 4.5% and 2.4%, respectively.
The Federal Reserve has been cautious on interest rate cuts in anticipation of sticky inflation, but this week’s employment and business activity data, could change the institution’s outlook.
Traders have dialed up bets on the Fed’s 2025 monetary policy easing cycle to at least two 25 basis points worth of interest rate cuts by December, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Tesla rose 3.1% after Morgan Stanley reinstated the stock as ‘top pick’ among US autos.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy jumped 3.7%, Coinbase rose 1.9% after Trump announced a proposed reserve of digital assets.
Chipmaker Intel rose 3.6% after a report that chip designers Nvidia and Broadcom were running manufacturing tests with the company.
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