By Caroline Valetkevitch

Major Stock Indexes Remain Steady Amid Trade Tariff News

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Major stock indexes were little changed on Tuesday as investors digested the latest news regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff rollout. The yen continued to slide against the dollar following the announcement of 25% duties on goods from Japan.

On Monday, Trump sent letters to 14 countries, including key Asian trading partners like Japan and South Korea, indicating they would face significantly higher tariffs on imports into the United States starting from August 1.

Although stocks dropped on Monday, market reactions have not been as severe as those witnessed after Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement in early April. Some analysts expect countries to seek trade deals with the U.S. before the new deadline.

European stocks showed resilience, with sources indicating that the European Union would not receive a letter outlining higher tariffs, and that a potential trade deal could be reached by Wednesday.

> “It’s kind of a sluggish day. People digested the tariff news yesterday, and we saw weakness. People are kind of on hold until we start seeing second-quarter earnings come out,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

S&P 500 companies are set to begin reporting earnings for the quarter ending June 30.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101.09 points, or 0.23%, to 44,305.27. The S&P 500 decreased by 2.26 points, or 0.04%, to 6,227.72. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.33 points, or 0.01%, to 20,413.85.

MSCI’s gauge of global stocks fell 0.36 points, or 0.04%, to 919.57, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.33%.

Hopes for trade deals boosted regional asset risk appetite on Tuesday, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei reversed early declines to finish 0.26% higher.

Southeast Asia’s largest economies are among those facing the highest U.S. tariffs. South Korean shares recorded their strongest daily gain in two weeks and the won strengthened by 0.4%.

The lack of progress on trade has hovered over markets since Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs capped at 10% in April to allow for negotiations. Only two agreements with Britain and Vietnam have been made; in June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework regarding tariff rates.

Minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting are set to be released on Wednesday. The central bank has maintained a wait-and-see stance on monetary policy.

The export-dependent Japanese yen hit a two-week low of 146.65 against the dollar and weakened against other currencies. The dollar rose 0.6% against the yen, reaching 146.9.

The Australian dollar increased after the country’s central bank defied market expectations and maintained its cash rate at 3.85%.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, with investors anticipating Treasury’s sale of $119 billion in coupon-bearing debt this week. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose by 3.6 basis points to 4.431%, the highest since June 20.

U.S. crude rose 0.19% to $68.06 per barrel, while Brent increased to $69.86 per barrel, up 0.4%.