Aussie shares dip as Trump vows to impose metal tariffs

Daftar Isi

The local share market has taken a hit after Donald Trump fired another shot in his emerging trade war, saying he'd be announcing new tariffs early this week.

The Australian share index, headed up by the S&P/ASX200, lost 28.6 points on Monday, which is 0.34% less than it was, to reach 8,482.8. Meanwhile the overall All Ordinaries index took a hit, going down 32.7 points, or 0.37%, to 8,747.6 on the day.

The ASX200 started the day down by as much as 66 points, or 0.78 per cent, after President Trump said on the plane travelling with Air Force One that he'd make an announcement on Monday that the US would introduce a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminium imports coming into the country.

Then, Mr Trump said, on Tuesday or Wednesday he'll announce "reciprocal tariffs" that'll match the tariff rates applied by each of them.

Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said it's an old saying during Mr Trump's first term that market participants would get a bit more cautious about taking risks as the week ends, because you never knew what the US president might say from Friday to the following Monday.

This has happened consistently now for two weeks during Mr Trump's second term, Mr Rodda pointed out.

Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors ended in the red, with consumer staples, healthcare and utilities posting small gains.

Tech took a tumble, dropping 1.4 per cent on the back of a 4.4 per cent slide by Wisetech Global to $124.20. This came after the company's board mentioned they're looking into two fresh grievances lodged against its co-founder, Richard White, who's currently juggling a full-time consultancy gig.

In the heavy-duty mining industry, BlueScope Steel increased by 1.8 percent as traders speculated that its significant US operations would enable the steel manufacturer to avoid the tariffs.

Over in that part of the industry, Fortescue fell by 1.5% to $19.42, BHP dropped by 1.0% to $40.09 and Rio Tinto slipped 1.2% to $119.32.

Australian goldminers were in high demand as the safe haven asset changed hands at $US2,878 an ounce, just $US8 below its all-time high set late last week, amid the trade tensions.

Evolution increased by 0.3 per cent, Northern Star rose by 0.5 per cent and Newmont lifted by 0.7 per cent.

In another part of the country, Star Entertainment Group rose 13.6 per cent to a 10-day high of 12.5 cents after the financially struggling casino operator said its joint venture partners offered to buy out Star's half-share in their new Brisbane hotel-casino.

Mayne Pharma Group zoomed 24.4 per cent to a new eight-month high of $5.82 after the pharmaceutical company revealed it's expecting earnings of up to $32 million for the first half of the year - a more than four-fold increase from the same period last year.

Ansell's share price rose 8.1 per cent to a three-year high of $37.77 after the company that makes gloves said it made $127.4 million in profit before interest and tax in the first half, which was a 20.2 per cent increase from the same time last year when you adjust for changes in currency.

JB Hi-Fi dropped 4.6 per cent to a three-week low of $97.78 after the retailer of consumer electronics and homewares said its sales had slowed a bit in January, following a 9.8 per cent surge in the six months to 31 December.

Two of the major Australian banks had falls, with NAB dropping 0.4% to $40.54 and ANZ slipping 0.3% to $30.91, while Westpac remained relatively steady at $34.03.

Aussie banking giant CBA nudged higher by 0.1 per cent to a brand new record close of $162.83 ahead of its upcoming earnings report on Wednesday.

The Aussie dollar was worth 62.73 US cents, compared to 62.80 US cents a day earlier.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 28.6 points, or 0.34 per cent, finishing at 8,482.8

* The broader All Ordinaries dropped 32.7 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,747.6

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

$0.6234 Aussie dollars, from $0.6280 AUD at 5pm AEDT on Friday

* 95.32 Japanese yen, up from 95.28 yen

* 61.80 cents, from 60.53 cents

There's a difference of 0.03 pence, from 50.56 pence.

* 11 dollars and 86 cents, from 11 dollars and 68 cents