Stocks opened lower and remained there throughout the entire session. The day's weakness can be attributed to renewed trade concerns after the U.S. went forward with plans for tariffs on several allied nations and Canada responded by slapping offsetting tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum. Despite today's losses, the market completed its best monthly performance since January. Investors are now looking ahead to tomorrow's release of the monthly jobs data prior to the market open. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., personal income rose 0.3% in April, with spending up 0.6%. Initial jobless claims fell 13,000 to 221,000 in the week ended May 26. The Chicago PMI jumped 5.1 points to 62.7 in May. The NAR pending home sales index dropped 1.3% in April to 106.4. Additionally, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed that a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico will go into effect at midnight, though he added that the U.S. looks forward to continued negotiations on the trade issues. In response, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Christina Freeland said that Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports. In Asia, China's official PMIs for May were solid, with the non-manufacturing PMI coming in at 54.9 and a manufacturing PMI reading of 51.9. In Europe, the consumer price inflation reading for May came in at 1.9%, well ahead of analyst expectations. The core euro-zone CPI, which strips out food and energy prices, rose to 1.1%. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of General Motors (GM) gained about 13% after news that SoftBank's (SFTBF) Vision Fund will invest $2.25B in GM Cruise Holdings in a transaction that values the automated driving and mobility unit at $11.5B. Elsewhere in the shared mobility and ride-hailing space, Bloomberg reported last night that Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Warren Buffett proposed earlier this year investing $3B in Uber Technologies, but the talks fell apart following disagreements over the terms and size of the deal... Dollar General (DG) shares fell 9% and Dollar Tree (DLTR) declined 14% after both of the dollar store operators reported first quarter sales and profits that missed consensus forecasts... Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (GS) shares were 1.5% lower after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that it charged Woojae Jung, a vice president at the bank, with insider trading. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL), which soared 145% after the company announced positive top-line, 36-week results from a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with the liver disease known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. Also higher was Curis (CRIS), which surged 22% after it said the FDA granted fast track designation for the development of fimepinostat in certain patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Among the notable losers was Clearside Biomedical (CLSD), which dropped 32% after reporting results from its Phase 2 clinical trial of CLS-TA. Also lower were Box (BOX) and Sears Holdings (SHLD), which fell 7.5% and 12.5%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: The Dow fell 251.94, or 1.02%, to 24,415.84, the Nasdaq lost 20.34, or 0.27%, to 7,442.12, and the S&P 500 declined 18.74, or 0.69%, to 2,705.27.
