[Good Morning Stock Market] Despite Trump's Steel and Aluminum Tariffs, US Stock Market Closes Steady

On the 11th (local time), the New York stock market saw the possibility of a global trade war rise following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, but major indices closed flat without significant reactions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 44,593.65, up 123.24 points (0.28%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 index rose 2.06 points (0.03%) to 6,068.50, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell 70.41 points (-0.36%) to 19,643.86.

Donald Trump, President of the United States.

President Trump announced the previous day that a 25% tariff would be imposed on all steel and aluminum products imported into the United States. He also reiterated that the U.S. would impose "reciprocal tariffs" on foreign products equal to the tariff rates that other countries impose on American goods.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell stated in congressional testimony that he would not rush to cut interest rates. Powell explained that he is carefully monitoring inflation and the labor market in setting the direction of monetary policy.

As a result, the market's expectation that the Fed would be cautious about cutting interest rates was further strengthened. With the uncertainty eased by Powell's testimony, major stock indices, which had started the day lower, significantly reduced their losses.

Following President Trump's announcement of a 25% tariff on countries exporting steel and aluminum to the U.S., steel-related stocks showed differentiated price movements. Cleveland-Cliffs fell 4.6% after a sharp rise the previous day due to profit-taking, while Nucor rose 0.4% and United States Steel gained 1.5%.

On the same day, Apple rose 2.18% on positive news that it plans to develop artificial intelligence (AI) features for iPhone users in China together with Alibaba. Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, also saw its stock rise 0.3%, marking its 17th consecutive day of gains.

Tesla plunged 6.34%. The stock was dragged down by news that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering a hostile takeover to gain control of OpenAI.

The MSCI Korea Index Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), closely linked to the Korean stock market, fell 0.13%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF dropped 0.39%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index declined 0.05%, suggesting that the domestic market may show mixed trends within a flat range.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Today, the domestic stock market is expected to start lower due to the noise from Trump's tariffs, Tesla's sharp decline as one of the major U.S. blue-chip stocks, and caution ahead of the January Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement scheduled after the domestic market closes." She added, "Since short-term profit-taking desires also persist, frequent sector rotation may occur during the trading session."