Trump slaps 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico, announces Russia tariffs: Morning Buzz

The major averages were marginally higher near noon as President Trump announced 30% tariffs on imports from the EU and Mexico effective August 1, following last week’s copper, Canada, and Japan tariff moves. Meanwhile, the president also announced that the U.S. will send weapons to Ukraine and impose “secondary” tariffs on Russia. Investors are closely monitoring inflation and producer/import price data due this week, along with the start of Q2 earnings from major banks.

Looking to commodities, gold prices were fractionally lower, while the price of oil dropped approximately 1.5%.

Check out this morning’s top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. Also, subscribe to the daily Fly By on YouTube if you want to know how the markets will open, which stocks will be moving and why.

1. STOCK NEWS:

• President Trump slapped a 30% tariff rate on the EU and Mexico starting August 1
• Trump also announced the U.S. will send weapons to Ukraine, paid for by Europe, as well as 100% “secondary” tariffs on Russia if there’s “no deal with Ukraine in 50 days”
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) agreed to acquire Veritex (VBTX) for $33.91 peer share, or $1.9B
• Synopsys (SNPS) confirmed all necessary approvals for its acquisition of Ansys (ANSS)
• Sonnet BioTherapeutics (SONN) entered into an $888M business combination with Rorschach I

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Seaport Research (MA) to Buy, here’s why
• Rivian (RIVN) upgraded to Neutral at Guggenheim
• BTIG downgraded Affirm (AFRM) to Neutral from Buy 
• Argus initiated coverage of Coinbase (COIN) with a Buy rating

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Netflix (NFLX) and YouTube (GOOGL) have increasingly locked in a battle for control over the TV, a rivalry Netflix’s executives can no longer deny, NYT says
• UnitedHealth (UNH) joins the growing group of companies and wealthy individuals who are using legal threats and lawsuits to deter or penalize criticism, NY Times reports
• JPMorgan (JPM) will start charging fees to financial-technology companies for access to their customers’ bank account information, Bloomberg says
• Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google will pay about $2.4B to license the technology of the artificial intelligence coding startup Windsurf and hire its CEO and some of its team, WSJ says
• General Motors (GM) is pausing the production at a pickup-truck plant in Silao, Mexico for several weeks, Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) gains after announcing holdings of ETH exceeding $500M
• Stitch Fix (SFIX) gains after William Blair upgraded the stock to Outperform
• Nebius (NBIS) higher in New York after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating
• Waters (WAT) falls after entering a business agreement to combine with BD’s (BDX) Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions
• Lionsgate Studios (LION) lower after Bloomberg reported Legendary Entertainment is considering a takeover of the company

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Fastenal (FAST) reported Q2 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) provided guidance for Q2
• Kenvue (KVUE) announced its outlook for Q2
• Diginex (DGNX) reported results for FY25, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year
• TSMC (TSM) to report Q2 results on July 17

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 32.47, or 0.073%, to 44,403.98, the Nasdaq was up 33.92, or 0.16%, to 20,619.45, and the S&P 500 was up 2.65, or 0.042%, to 6,262.40.