Stock market today: Stocks surge and the dollar drops as traders try to shake off a tough start to the year

• Stocks surged and the dollar fell Monday after a report said Trump's tariff plans may be watered down.
• The report followed Trump's broad tariff threats against Canada and Mexico late last year.
• Trump denied the report in a post on Truth Social, and the dollar pared its losses.

US stocks surged on Monday and the dollar dropped after a report said President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plans would be more targeted than initially thought.

The US Dollar Index dropped about 1% in its biggest one-day decline since August, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 surged about 1%.

The Washington Post reported that Trump's aides were reviewing plans to impose tariffs on every country but only on imports seen as critical to national or economic security.

The report came just a few weeks after Trump threatened broad tariffs against Canada and Mexico in a post on his Truth Social account.

"It looks as if officials are already preparing to water down the worst of Trump's campaign promises by narrowing the scope of the tariffs," Kyle Chapman, an analyst at Ballinger Group, said.

The threat of broad-based tariffs had stoked fears of a rebound in inflation, which would limit the Federal Reserve's ability to lower interest rates.

But Trump pushed back on The Washington Post's report.

"The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don't exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The 10-year US Treasury yield declined by about 3 basis points to 4.58% immediately following The Washington Post's report but has since rebounded to 4.63%. Meanwhile, the dollar pared its losses to about 0.5%.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Monday:

• S&P 500: 5,988.69, up 0.92%.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,890.10, up 0.37% (+157.97 points).
• Nasdaq composite: 19,884.63, up 1.36%.

Tech stocks moved higher on Monday, led by shares of Nvidia, which surged about 3%.

It's a big week for artificial intelligence with the Consumer Electronics Show set to kick off Monday. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to give the keynote speech Monday evening.

It's a shortened trading week, with the stock market closed on Thursday in remembrance of former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29.

Here's what else is going on:

• From Rolexes to homes, patient retail bulls who bought bitcoin early are cashing in.
• A recent Supreme Court decision could undermine the stock market's biggest bull case for Trump's second term.
• Hertz is trying to sell EVs to some renters amid a slowdown in demand.
• Warren Buffett's favorite internet stock was called a "top pick" by Citi.
• Here is a complete rundown of Wall Street's 2025 S&P 500 targets.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 0.69% to $74.47 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was higher by 0.63% at $76.99 a barrel.
• Gold was 0.28% lower at $2,661.50 an ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 4.621%.
• Bitcoin increased 0.77% to $99,101.