US futures transactions showed little change, despite continued uncertainty about US tariff policy, among other things. Futures on the S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent, while Dow futures were largely unchanged.Earlier in the global day in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.8 percent to end at 52,885.25, thanks to selling by major exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp., whose shares fell 4.1 percent.
A weak currency is generally good for Japanese exporters because it helps increase the value of their foreign earnings. The dollar has risen against the yen in recent months. The stock fell sharply in recent days after officials in both Japan and the US signaled their willingness to intervene to support the yen.
While finance officials did not directly confirm that such an intervention was in the works, they confirmed that they were consulting closely with the US on currency movements.
“Intervention talk has helped. Since Friday, the yen has staged a sharp recovery on expectations that Japanese authorities – possibly with US coordination – would intervene,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote. The dollar fell from 155.01 yen to 153.88 Japanese yen. Last week it traded around 158 yen.
The euro fell from $1.1858 to $1.1851.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8 percent to 4,949.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose less than 0.1 percent to 26,765.52 after fluctuating earlier in the day, while the Shanghai Composite fell almost 0.1 percent to 4,132.60.
Markets were closed in Australia, New Zealand, India and Indonesia.
Markets are also keeping a close eye on earnings reports expected from several global companies in the coming weeks. Some of these could show the negative effects of recent US tariff policies.
In the latest such development, a threat from US President Donald Trump to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods from Canada was met by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump had warned he would raise tariffs if Canada signed a free trade deal with China. Carney said Canada has no plans for such a deal.
In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by imposing a 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum from Beijing. China had responded by imposing 100 percent import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25 percent on pork and seafood.
Carney broke with the United States this month during a visit to China, cutting his 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric cars in exchange for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.
In other trading Monday, U.S. crude rose 43 cents to $61.50 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 48 cents to $65.55 a barrel.
Gold rose 2 percent to more than $5,100 an ounce, while silver rose 5.5 percent to $109.81 an ounce. The value of precious metals has soared in recent months as investors sought relatively safe places to invest.
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