The ASX has bounced back up as the market nervously waits to see what the fallout will be from US President Donald Trump’s tariff roll-out this week.
The S&P/ASX 200 followed Wall Street up, climbing 61.1 points, or 0.78%, to 7,904.5 points as of 10.30am AEDT.
Ten of the 11 sectors were higher, led by materials with a 0.59% tick up. Industrials rose 0.19%, utilities advanced 0.09% and energy edged up 0.08% in early trade.
ANZ Pacific Economist Kishti Sen says stock markets are sending a message.
“Ahead of the announcement of the US trade review and reciprocal tariffs this week, risk markets remained under pressure,” Sen says.
“Stock markets are sending a very clear message that tariffs are not good for corporate profits which potentially can have knock-on effects for all aspects of economic activity, not least of which is hiring.”
While this has impacted copper prices, it has driven gold to a new Australian dollar record of over $5,000 an ounce.
“Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on the global economy after Europe and Canada threatened to join forces to combat the US tariffs, a scenario US President Donald Trump warned would result in harsher penalties,” Sen says.
“Rising demand for physical gold is adding to the upward pressure on prices.”
Bloomberg data shows around 154 tonnes have flowed into gold-backed exchange traded funds.
Among the miners, Capstone Copper (ASX:CSC) slid 2.35% to $8.31, while uranium miner Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) added 2.94% to trade at $5.26 just after the opening bell.
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 & Unsplash
