Stocks take a breath, dollar falls after Trump visa crackdown and ahead of Fed commentary
FILE PHOTO: German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/staff/File Photo
NEW YORK/LONDON :MSCI's global stock index was edging higher and the dollar fell along with Treasury yields as investors digested U.S. President Donald Trump's latest visa restrictions and waited for economic data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials.
Trump said on Friday that U.S. companies would need to pay $100,000 for new H-1B worker visas, a potential blow for the dominant U.S. tech sector.
India's benchmark indexes lost ground after the H-1B announcements as India's $283 billion information technology sector, which gets more than half its revenue from the U.S., is expected to feel the pain in the near term. The move follows Trump's doubling of tariffs on imports from India last month to as much as 50 per cent, partly due to New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
Wall Street indexes stayed close to flat after marking record closing highs last week.
"It's not at all unusual to have markets be a little weak this morning coming off of all-time highs across the board last week," said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth Management, adding that the trading week could be volatile with Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, due to speak and key inflation data due out on Friday.
So far, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said that after last week's rate cut there may be "limited room" for further reductions given inflation above the Fed's 2 per cent target. And Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he does not currently see the need for further interest rate cuts this year due to inflation concerns, according to an interview published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
"We've also got people worried about getting some more clarity over President Trump's visa or H-1B visa announcement," Schleif said.
But with the S&P 500 technology sector managing a slight gain, she added: "I would imagine that investors are figuring most of the tech CEOs probably have President Trump on speed dial so that they'll be able to call pretty quickly and get a workaround."
On Wall Street all three major indexes had opened lower. At 10.48 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.27 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 46,309.00, the S&P 500 rose 9.65 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 6,674.01 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 67.28 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 22,698.20.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.04 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 982.79. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.2 per cent.
In currencies, the U.S. dollar index was looking to snap a three-day winning streak as investors awaited Fed comments with a view to gauging the monetary policy outlook after the central bank cut rates by 25 basis points last week.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.23 per cent to 97.50. The euro was up 0.21 per cent at $1.1769. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.03 per cent to 147.9.
Meanwhile, Argentina's international dollar bonds rallied after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "all options for stabilization are on the table" to support Argentina, with more details available after Argentine President Javier Milei and U.S. President Donald Trump meet on Tuesday in New York.
In U.S. Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 0.4 basis points to 4.135 per cent, from 4.139 per cent late on Friday while the 30-year bond yield rose 0.5 basis points to 4.7615 per cent.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 0.2 basis points to 3.584 per cent, from 3.582 per cent late on Friday.
In energy markets, oil prices fell as concerns over Russia and the Middle East were countered by oversupply jitters.
U.S. crude fell 0.4 per cent to $62.43 a barrel and Brent fell to $66.38 per barrel, down 0.45 per cent on the day.
In precious metals, gold prices hit fresh record highs, buoyed by investors' heightened expectations of a dovish rate-cut path, ahead of remarks by Fed officials and key inflation data later in the week.
Spot gold rose 0.99 per cent to $3,720.18 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 1.34 per cent to $3,720.80 an ounce.
