By Sinéad Carew and Marc Jones
NEW YORK, LONDON (Reuters) -A global equities gauge fell on Monday while the euro took a tumble and U.S. Treasuries sold off as investors cautiously greeted a trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union at the start of an action-packed week for markets.
The weekend's framework trade deal, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described as the best the bloc could get, will impose a 15% import tariff on most EU goods while the EU is set to spend $600 billion on U.S. investments and open up some important parts of its market.
While the accord may avert a damaging standoff between the trading partners, which account for almost a third of global trade, some European capitals complained it was lopsided in favor of Washington.
“The brunt of it is being felt by the euro because when you really step back, Europe gave up a lot. Relatively speaking, the U.S. didn't give up anything,” said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions.
Equity investor enthusiasm over the trade deal likely faded as market participants looked into the details and questioned how Europe's requirement for spending on U.S. defense and energy would be enforced, Janasiewicz added.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 2.78 points, or 0.30%, to 938.48. The index, representing stocks from 47 countries, had boasted five record closes out of the prior six trading sessions.
Monday's tepid equity action followed a series of record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, thanks to solid quarterly earnings and bets on megacaps and artificial intelligence stocks as well as optimism that the U.S. would ultimately reach agreements with its trading partners.
On Wall Street the 500 barely managed to squeak another record close, its sixth in a row, by finishing up 1.13 points, or 0.02%, at 6,389.77.
The Nasdaq Composite also managed a record close with a gain of 70.27 points, or 0.33%, to 21,178.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64.36 points, or 0.14%, to 44,837.56, still short of its early December record close.
Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.22%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.15%.
Phil Orlando, chief market strategist at Federated Hermes, said that removing uncertainty was a relief along with the 15% tariff rate, which was lower than some of “the ridiculous numbers” being talked about in early April.
“You've got some certainty going forward, and you've got numbers that seem reasonable,” he said.
