Australian investors are on the sidelines ahead of Tuesday’s (18 February) Reserve Bank of Australia meeting to decide whether the board will finally cut interest rates.
According to the RBA Rate Indicator, the likelihood of the RBA announcing a rate cut to 4.1%, from 4.35% currently, sits at 90%.
The S&P/ASX 200 edged lower in early trade, dipping 63.5 points, or 0.74%, 8,492.3 points by 10.30am AEDT.
The index is virtually unchanged over the past five days, but is currently 1.43% below its 52-week high.
Sectors were mixed. Five sectors gained ground, while the remaining six retreated. Materials slipped 0.19% and energy inched down 0.04%. Meanwhile, industrials rose 0.14%.
ANZ Economist Sophia Angala says US tariffs continue to “wreak havoc” on the copper market.
“Extreme dislocations emerged on Friday, with a record gap between US and global prices,” she says.
“Copper on New York’s Comex spiked, with the premium over those on the London Metal Exchange reaching as high as US$1,200/t ($1,889/t) during the session. This was more than 10% of the benchmark LME price.”
This follows US President Donald Trump announcing his retaliatory tariffs on a country-by-country basis, which would be in addition to tariffs already placed on steel and aluminium.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & RBA
