(Adds market reaction to Trump comments on tariffs)
* Canadian dollar, Mexican peso fall against greenback
* Rate worry keeps markets on edge as Powell testifies
* U.S. yield curve steepens after Fed chief comments
* Oil slides on worries about crude supply, dollar
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - A gauge of global equityperformance tumbled and the dollar strengthened against theCanadian and Mexican currencies on Thursday after PresidentDonald Trump said the United States would impose tariffs onsteel and aluminum imports next week.
The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso hit session lows afterTrump vowed to rebuild American steel and aluminum industries ata meeting of U.S. industry officials at the White House. steelmakers jumped on the news, with AK Steel Holding AKS.N up 9.7 percent, U.S. Steel Corp X.N gaining 7.1percent and Nucor (NYSE:NUE) NUE.N rising 2.85 percent.
The administration has said duties would protect U.S.companies, but critics say they would raise costs for industryand fail to deliver on a Trump campaign pledge to boost domesticjobs.
Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel inCharlottesville, Virginia, called Trump's proposed tariffs a"bombshell" announcement that might help the steel and aluminumindustry but ultimately hurt U.S. stocks.
"It's helping about a dozen stocks in those industries buthas raised the specter of trade wars, and trade wars don't helpthe stock market," Tuz said.
Stocks on Wall Street had mostly traded lower before Trump'sactions, weighed by remarks by Federal Reserve Chair JeromePowell to the Senate Banking Committee in Congress and New YorkFed President William Dudley in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
While Powell tried to temper remarks he made on Tuesday thatraised concerns about the potential for four interest rate hikesthis year rather than the Fed's forecast of three, Dudley was abit more pointed and said four rate hikes would be "gradual".
"By and large (Powell) painted the picture of an economythat is doing well and even a little bit better than expected,and that's prompted fears of rising inflation. Four (rate hikes)this year is now the consensus I think," Tuz said.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in NewYork, said tariffs have not worked historically and they causeretaliation.
"This is sort of working your way into a trade war which isa drag on the economy. It is also inflationary so if you areworried about inflation it is going to pump that up," Hogansaid.
MSCI's gauge of stock performance in 47 countries .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.88 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst300 index .FTEU3 of leading regional shares lost 1.26 percentto close at 1,468.47.
European markets had already closed by the time Trump'scomments about tariffs was reported.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell265.07 points, or 1.06 percent, to 24,764.13. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 21.52 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,692.31 and the NasdaqComposite .IXIC dropped 59.12 points, or 0.81 percent, to7,213.89.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.07 percent, with the euro EUR= up 0.11 percent to $1.2206. The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.05 percent versus the greenback at 106.75 per dollar.
The Mexican peso MXN= lost 0.29 percent versus the U.S.dollar at 18.89, while the Canadian dollar CAD= fell 0.39percent versus the greenback at 1.29 per dollar.
The gap between short-dated U.S. borrowing costs and thosein Germany was at its widest in over 20 years as the monetarypolicy outlooks by the Fed and European Central Bank for the tworegions diverged. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR last rose9/32 in price to push yields lower to 2.8351 percent.
U.S. consumer prices increased in January as a gauge ofunderlying inflation posting its largest gain in 12 months, buta survey showed the euro zone's factory boom slowed a littlefurther in February, pressuring euro zone yields lower. L2N1QI1U5 the U.S. we have at least three rate hikes this year,but in the euro zone, there was some exaggeration about whereinflation was heading so that is now being priced out and yieldsare moving to the downside," said DZ Bank strategist DanielLenz.
Oil fell more than 1 percent, hitting two-week lows onpressure from a strong dollar and worries that surging U.S.crude output might thwart efforts by the Organization of thePetroleum Exporting Countries to drain global supply.
U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 51 cents to $61.13 per barrel andBrent LCOcv1 was last at $63.95, down 78 cents on the day.
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http://reut.rs/2CPDYaNWorld FX rates in 2018
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