Overview

• President Donald Trump announced the tariff hike to 50% on imported steel and aluminum effective Wednesday to protect domestic producers.
• China’s commerce ministry labeled the move discriminatory and said it undermines the Geneva consensus reached in recent trade talks.
• The ISM manufacturing PMI declined to 48.5 in May, marking a third straight month of contraction in the US factory sector.
• Canada’s S&P/TSX composite rose 66.16 points on strength in energy stocks even as major US benchmarks closed with mixed results.
• Oil prices climbed over 3%, gold topped $3,371 an ounce and the Australian dollar jumped nearly 1% amid heightened trade-driven uncertainty.