Steel Company Stocks Rally On Reports Trump Would Consider Quotas And Tariffs On Imports

Shares of steel companies spiked in afternoon trading on Thursday, after President Donald Trump reportedly said he would consider quotas and tariffs on steel imports into the United States. AK Steel Holding Corp. spiked 7.6%, sharply extending a gain it had had prior to the report. United States Steel Corp. gained 4.6%, while Nucor Corp. was up 2.5%. The VanEck Vectors Steel ETF , which has a heavy weighting toward foreign steel companies, was 0.5% higher. Despite the gains on the day, both U.S. Steel and AK Steel are down sharply for 2017, dropping more than 25%. In the broader market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index were up 0.2%.