US futures jump while Asian shares slip after Trump delays EU tariffs

US futures jumped Monday and Asian shares mostly fell after US President Donald Trump said he would delay a threatened 50 per cent tariff on goods from the European Union to July 9 from June 1.

Trump announced the decision after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who said she wants to get down to serious negotiations, according to the US president's retelling.

Last week, Trump said on social media that trade talks with the European Union were going nowhere and that straight 50 per cent tariffs could go into effect on June 1.

The future for the S&P 500 gained 1 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.8 per cent.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.7 per cent to 37,427.48 while the Kospi in Seoul picked up 1.2 per cent to 2,622.07.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1 per cent to 23,370.94 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 3,338.42.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,360.70.

Other regional markets were mostly lower.

On Friday, US stocks fell as traders weighed whether Trump's latest threats were just negotiating tactics.

The S&P 500 lost 0.7 per cent to 5,802.82 to close out its worst week in the last seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6 per cent to 41,603.07, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1 per cent to 18,737.21.

Apple dropped 3 per cent and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after Trump said he's been pushing Apple CEO Tim Cook to move production of iPhones to the United States. He warned a tariff of at least 25 per cent must be paid by Apple to the US if it doesn't.

Trump later clarified his post to say that all smart phones made abroad would be taxed and the tariffs could be coming as soon as the end of June.

It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, Trump said. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair.

Trump has been criticising companies individually when he's frustrated with how they're acting because of his tariffs and because of the uncertainty his trade war has created. He earlier told Walmart it should eat the tariffs, along with China, after the retailer said it would likely have to raise prices to cover the increased cost of imports.

Deckers Outdoor, the company behind the Hoka and Uggs brands, became one of the latest companies to say all the uncertainty around the economy means it won't offer financial forecasts for the full upcoming year.

Its stock shed 19.9 per cent, even though the company reported a stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected.

Ross Stores fell 9.8 per cent after it pulled its financial forecasts for the full year, citing how more than half the goods it sells originate in China.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Intuit, which rose 8.1 per cent after the company behind TurboTax and Credit Karma reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Stocks in the nuclear industry also rallied after Trump signed executive orders to speed up nuclear licensing decisions, among other measures meant to charge up the industry. Oklo, which is developing fast fission power plants, jumped 23 per cent.

Trump's latest tariff threats stirred up Wall Street after it had recovered most of the losses it had earlier taken because of the trade war. The S&P 500 dropped roughly 20 per cent below its record at one point last month, when worries were at their height about whether Trump's stiff tariffs would cause a global recession. The index then climbed back within 3 per cent of its all-time high after Trump paused his tariffs on many countries, most notably China.

In other trading early Monday, US benchmark crude oil gained 9 cents to $61.62 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 6 cents to $64.27 per barrel.

The US dollar fell to 142.32 Japanese yen from 142.55 yen. The euro edged higher, to $1.1411 from $1.1369.