By Ed Ballard

President Trump and geopolitics are setting the agenda for markets at the start of the week.

Investors are braced for more last-minute wrangling between the U.S. and its trading partners, with a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican goods slated to start Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that President Trump hasn't decided yet whether to go ahead.

As markets opened, investors didn't appear worried, with U.S. stock indexes posting modest gains. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies rallied after Trump said Sunday he would proceed with a strategic reserve that would include bitcoin and ether, as well as three smaller tokens.

In Europe, defense stocks surged after the region's leaders talked up military spending. Trump's rancorous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday left Europe's governments scrambling to put together their own Ukraine-Russia peace plan.

In recent trading:

U.S. stock indexes rose, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. The three major indexes all rose at least 1.4% Friday, ending a tough month on a strong note.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked up to 4.252%. February saw the largest one-month yield decline since December 2023.

The U.S. dollar weakened against the euro and the U.K. pound.

Bitcoin traded above $92,000 after Trump's comments Sunday reignited crypto prices. Crypto-sensitive stocks such as Coinbase and MicroStrategy rose Monday.

European stocks outperformed, helped by defense names including BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rheinmetall and Thales.

European natural-gas futures climbed, as prospects for an imminent Ukraine peace deal receded, making an increase of Russian supplies onto the global market look less likely.

Coming up this week:

Trump is due to address Congress Tuesday, amid concerns about the economic impact of his policies.

Tuesday is set to be a big day for retail earnings, with Target and Best Buy among those due to report. Macy's and Kroger are up Thursday, along with semiconductor company Broadcom.

The official jobs report for February is due Friday.

Write to Ed Ballard at ed.ballard@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2025 09:40 ET (14:40 GMT)

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