Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Drop as China Accuses US of Undermining Trade Agreement; S&P 500 Coming Off Best Month Since 2023

Stock futures are pointing to a lower open for major indexes on Monday as the latest flare-up in global trade tensions weighs on investor sentiment.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were recently down 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.2%. Stocks were little changed on Friday but posted big gains for the month of May. The benchmark S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite turned in their best monthly performances since November 2023, as concerns about tariffs eased, corporate earnings reports were generally strong and data continued to show that the economy remains on solid footing.

Concerns about trade flared up again this morning after China accused the U.S. of violating an agreement the two countries reached last month, saying that the Trump administration had introduced new measures that “seriously undermine” the deal. The comments from Beijing come just a few days after President Donald Trump said China had “totally violated” the pact, which involved each of the countries slashing the massive tariffs they had imposed on one another.

Shares of the world’s largest technology companies were down across the board this morning. Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) dropped 2% and 1.5%, respectively, ahead of the opening bell, while Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) also lost ground.

Energy sector shares were on the rise this morning as crude oil prices surged after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations decided to raise output, but by a smaller-than-anticipated amount. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, jumped 4.3% to $63.40 per barrel. Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) were each up more than 1%, while oilfield services giant Haliburton (HAL) rose nearly 2%.

Shares of U.S. steel companies were also gaining ground after Trump said late Friday he plans to double tariffs on steel imports to 50%. Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) soared more than 25%, while shares of Steel Dynamics (STLD) and Nucor (NUE) were each up about 11%.

Gold producers were also higher this morning as gold futures rose 2% to $3,355 per ounce in recent trading. Shares of Newmont Mining (NEM), the world’s largest gold producer, rose more than 2%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.44% this morning, up from 4.42% at Friday’s close The yield had been as high as 4.63% the week before last, its highest level in more than three months, amid rising concerns about the federal deficit as the GOP budget bill moved through Congress.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.6% to 98.75.

Bitcoin was at $103,900 in recent trading, down from a high this morning of around $106,000.