A move by the US to impose tariffs on metal imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU) - which prompted retaliatory measures from some trading partners - pushed the benchmark US equity indices lower and overshadowed a round of positive economic data - Dow down -252-points or -1.02%, with Visa (up 0.1%) the only index constituent to advance. The broader S&P500 -0.69%, General Motors Co (GM.N) led the S&P 500 in percentage gains, rising 12.6% (its largest single session gain in the company's post bankruptcy years) after Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (up +0.23%) said it would invest US$2.25B in GM’s autonomous vehicle unit. NASDAQ slipped -0.27%, with Google parent Alphabet (up +1.9%) and Facebook (+%) . US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the U.S. would impose levies of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico For the month, the Dow rose +1%, S&P500 +2.2% and the Nasdaq +5.3%. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalisation stocks settled with a 6% advance in May. Elsewhere, President Trump was non-committal as to whether the planned 12 June summit with North Korea would proceed despite describing recent diplomatic meetings as "very good". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with North Korean official Kim Yong-Chol on Wednesday (30 May) and Chol promised President Trump that he would receive a letter from Kim Jong Un on Friday (1 June).
