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The ASX 200 sprang out of the blocks on Wednesday after the stunning reversal on Wall Street following bullish rhetoric from US President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The local index may have drifted slightly in the afternoon, but it still closed up over 100 points on broad-based gains outside of the gold sector – more on this later.
Energy and mining stocks led the ASX higher, driven by hopes that tariffs on China could be less severe than first thought after a softer tone toward negotiations from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent overnight. A deal isn’t done, nor have discussions started between the world’s two largest economies, but the market took an inch and ran a mile.
The ASX200 slipped just 0.03% on Tuesday, a big win considering the Dow tumbled almost 1000 points on Monday night. However, the market internals weren’t as strong, with over 75% of the ASX200 closing lower, but when CBA surges +4.2% and BHP, Westpac & Macquarie play minor supporting roles, the local index will find it hard to fall far.
After a four-day break over the long weekend, the ASX returned to trading this morning, following two sessions on Wall Street during its downtime. Australian futures markets remained closed through the break until 9:50am, opening down and trying to digest pent up sentiment from the weekend after US President Donald Trump criticised Federal Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates.
Less than a month after “Liberation Day”, fresh economic data and growth forecasts are set to reflect increased consumer nervousness, both today and moving forward. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will lower its outlook for economic growth with its updated projections released on Tuesday – the only question being how much.
A bullish session after a decent hit to U.S markets overnight, particularly the tech sector which was -3.9% weaker amid further U.S tariff and policy intervention. It was a slow and steady move up over the day, opening flat but climbing ~5-10 points hour after hour.
The ASX 200 performed well on Wednesday, considering US NASDAQ Futures were down over 2% by 4pm AEST, courtesy of poor news from both sides of the Atlantic before the respective bourses even opened. Global Tech stocks sank on a one-two of bad news for tech goliaths Nvidia and ASML, the last thing the embattled semiconductor sector needed.
The ASX200 tried hard to rally throughout the session shrugging off early weakness in S&P500 futures as tech giant Nvidia announced new licensing requirements for US chipmakers exporting to China could cost the firm $US8bn a quarter causing the stock to trade down ~6% in after-hours trade.
Yesterday, we heard the minutes of the RBA’s April board meeting, which was notably held two days before “Liberation Day”. The very clear message at the time was they were looking to cut interest rates in May.
Local stocks rose for the second straight session, with banks up early and maintaining, after an impressive start to reporting season by their U.S counterparts. President Trump indicated a temporary reprieve from tariffs on imported vehicles and parts providing incremental hope that tariffs will be paused or adjusted in other areas.
