US STOCKS-Wall Street set for lower open after Trump's steel tariff threat

By Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta

June 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track for a lower open on Monday after President Donald Trump revealed plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, fueling more uncertainty around U.S. trade policies.

Trump said late on Friday he planned to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25% starting Wednesday, just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement.

Shares of U.S. steel companies rose in premarket trading, with Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N jumping 27.1%, Nucor NUE.N up 11.6% and Steel Dynamics STLD.O 11.4% higher.

However, shares of automakers fell with Ford F.N down 0.4% and General Motors GM.N losing 1.2%.

"People have been thinking about that (steel tariffs) and trying to formulate the economic impact. It presents the markets with a lot of uncertainty right now," said Peter Andersen, founder at Andersen Capital Management.

The increased levies risk deepening Trump's global trade war, and dousing enthusiasm in markets stemming from the U.S. president's softer trade stance that drove a recovery in risky assets last month.

A temporary relief on some levies on China and a rollback of steep tariff threats on the European Union, along with strong earnings and improving economic picture helped the benchmark S&P 500 log its best monthly performance in 18 months in May.

Also fueling risk-off moves in global markets, Kyiv struck some of Moscow's nuclear-capable bombers on Sunday, renewing concerns around further escalation of the war .

At 8:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 100 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 18.25 points, or 0.31%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 97.25 points, or 0.45%

Most megacap and growth stocks were down, with Alphabet GOOGL.O leading losses, down 2.2%. Tesla TSLA.O lost over 1% after it reported lower monthly sales for Portugal, Denmark and Sweden.

Focus will be on comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day as he presents opening remarks before the Federal Reserve Board International Finance Division's 75th anniversary conference at 1:00 p.m. ET (1700 GMT).

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday that interest rate cuts remain possible later this year even with the Trump administration's tariffs likely to push up price pressures temporarily.

On the data front, a reading of S&P Global U.S. manufacturing PMI is due at 9:45 a.m. ET and ISM's manufacturing activity index is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET.

Investors are also looking ahead to a crucial nonfarm-payrolls report on Friday to gauge the U.S. labor market's strength amid tariff volatility.

Among other stocks, Moderna MRNA.O rose 4.1% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine for everyone aged 65 and above.

U.S.-listed energy stocks advanced after producer group OPEC+ kept output increases in July at the same level as the previous two months.