GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar, stocks fall as Trump targets Europe and Apple in tariff threats

Updates to US morning

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Naomi Rovnick

NEW YORK/LONDON May 23 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes and the dollar fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed his latest trade threats, recommending 50% tariffs on European Union imports from June 1 and saying he may impose a 25% tariff on any Apple iPhones manufactured outside the U.S.

Shares of Apple AAPL.O were down 2.5% in early New York trading, while the Nasdaq was down more than 1%. European shares also fell sharply.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.46% to 99.45, with the euro EUR= up 0.35% and the dollar down 0.81% against the yen. The dollar index was on track for a weekly loss.

Government bonds in the United States and Europe climbed, however, as the assets suddenly found favor from haven buyers after sustaining heavy pressure this week from rising concerns about Trump's tax cuts and the White House's ballooning debt pile.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network: "The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with."

This was the latest event in a jittery week for global markets after Moody's late last Friday downgraded the U.S. credit rating and the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly approved Trump's sweeping tax cuts.

"Tariffs are back at the forefront," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

"I think the 25% tariffs on iPhones and Apple was a little bit of a surprise. It seemed like there was going to be an exemption there, and the market is reacting more to that than the EU news, and is interpreting that as a hardening of the stance by President Trump and the administration as opposed to seeking a negotiating path."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 284.70 points, or 0.68%, to 41,576.68, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 51.16 points, or 0.88%, to 5,790.85 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 221.02 points, or 1.17%, to 18,704.71.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS fell 4.88 points, or 0.56%, to 866.13. The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index fell 1.06%.

The new tax-cut bill is expected to add almost $4 trillion to the U.S. federal government's $36 trillion debt pile.

Yields on 30-year Treasuries US30YT=RR, which had hit 19-month highs early on Thursday, were down on Friday in response to fresh tariff fears.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield was last down 1.7 basis points at 5.0468%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 3.4 basis points to 4.519%, from 4.553% late on Thursday.

Gold, which has surged in recent months as economic anxiety as risen, was higher. Spot gold XAU= rose 1.47% to $3,342.49 an ounce.

U.S. crude CLc1 rose 0.33% to $61.40 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 rose to $64.58 per barrel, up 0.22% on the day.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Naomi Rovnick in London; Additonal reporting by Stella Qiu in Sydney; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Alex Richardson)

((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))