US STOCKS-Main indexes mixed on Trump's steel tariff threat, Nvidia lift Nasdaq

By Saeed Azhar, Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Monday after President Donald Trump said he plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was lifted by gains in Nvidia and Meta Platforms.

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.

China said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's accusations that Beijing had violated the consensus reached in Geneva trade talks were "groundless" and promised to take forceful measures to safeguard its interests.

The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a U.S.-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners viewed by Reuters. nL2N3S50MP

Shares of U.S. steel companies rose, with Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N jumping almost 20%, Nucor NUE.N up 8% and Steel Dynamics STLD.O was 9% higher.

However, shares of automakers fell. Ford F.N was down 4.5% and General Motors GM.N was 4.7% lower.

"It's the continued uncertainty, not knowing whether the trade war is on or it's off," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

"Something new gets added, something gets postponed, so essentially it is that uncertainty reigns."

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 an improving economic picture helped the benchmark S&P 500 log its best monthly performance in 18 months in May.

At 2:22 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 40.57 points, or 0.10%, to 42,229.50, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.43 points, or 0.24%, to 5,926.12 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 106.92 points, or 0.56%, to 19,220.68.

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

Nvidia NVDA.O was up 1.9% and Meta META.O gained 3%, lifting Nasdaq higher.

Tesla O> fell 1.8% after it reported lower monthly sales for Portugal, Denmark and Sweden.

The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) survey showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in May and suppliers took longer to deliver inputs amid tariffs, potentially signaling looming shortages of some goods.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Lorie Logan said that with the labor market stable, inflation running somewhat above target and the outlook uncertain, the central bank is keeping a watchful eye on a broad range of data to judge what response might be needed, and when.

Traders currently see at least two 25-basis-points cuts by the end of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG.

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.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.54-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 178 new highs and 62 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.18-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 74 new lows.