The materials and energy sectors took a beating today (2 April) as the market waits to find out the finer details of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs in just a few hours.
Materials tumbled 1.66% and energy fell 1.38%, while the S&P/ASX 200 ticked up 9.3 points to 7,934.5 points.
The index is down 0.81% over the past five days and has retreated 0.59% in the past year. Eight of the 11 sectors closed in the green.
Gold has edged back slightly but remains in record territory, fetching around US$3,126 ($4,966) an ounce as of 4.20pm AEDT.
State Street Global Advisors has raised its 2025 bull case gold price outlook range to US$3,100-US$3,400, up from US$2,900 to US$3,100 previously, as a result of the strong tailwinds in the first quarter of the year and robust exchange-traded fund inflows.
State Street says it still leans structurally bullish on the gold market in a six to nine month context on the back of rebounding investor demand, rising US recession/stagflation risks, prevailing geopolitical uncertainty, ongoing emerging market central bank purchases, and a tight physical environment.
However, the asset manager adds that the risk of consolidation or a 5-7% drawdown is tangible, though it expects gold consumers and financial investors will buy any such a dip.
ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell says the ANZ FX Bubble Indicator suggests gold may be at risk of a short-term pullback.
“Nevertheless, we maintain a positive view of gold. In addition to the trade uncertainty, geopolitical risks, easing monetary policy and risks to global economic growth remain strong tailwinds,” she says.
The ANZ FX Bubble Indicator is part of ANZ’s Early Warning Indicator system and is aimed at assessing the potential for a foreign exchange bubble.
The bottom movers on Wednesday was heavy with mining stocks. Lithium producer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) fell 4.27% to $0.56, gold miner Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) retreated 3.94% to $1.83 and mineral sands producer Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) stumbled 3.81% to $3.79.
Also heading south was gold producer Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS), which dropped 3.77% to $2.30 and diversified miner IGO (ASX:IGO), which closed down 3.6% at $3.75.
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 & iStock
