Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Nick Newling
The Australian sharemarket remained flat after Wall Street closed lower overnight, breaking a nine-day winning streak.
The S&P/ASX 200 was 7.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, lower to 8150 at 12pm AEST, with six of 11 industry sectors in positive territory. The Australian dollar was trading at US64.5¢ by 12.15pm.
Wall Street’s winning streak came to an end.Credit: Bloomberg
The biggest sector-wide drop came for healthcare, which fell 0.8 per cent, with drops of 1.2 per cent at multinational biotech firm CSL, and 3.2 per cent at Telix Pharmaceuticals.
Sigma Healthcare took the largest hit of the morning, falling 3.8 per cent, followed by A2 Milk (down 3.3 per cent), and Seven Group Holdings (down 2.3 per cent).
Consumer staples recovered slightly from a 0.8 per cent fall this morning, with Woolworths and Coles falling about 0.3 per cent. Liquor and pubs giant Endeavour Group, which has been under investor pressure recently, was down 3.6 per cent.
The big banks took a hit, with a sector-wide fall of 0.7 per cent. The brunt of the fall was felt at Westpac, which was down 2.2 per cent by 12.10pm AEST, followed by NAB (down 1.4 per cent), ANZ (down 1.2 per cent), and Commonwealth Bank (down 0.5 per cent).
The strongest sector of the morning was materials, up 0.7 per cent, with big jumps at Evolution Mining, (5.8 per cent), Northern Star Resources (3.3 per cent), and Newmont (2.7 per cent), as gold prices rose overnight.
Data centre operator NEXTDC was the best performing stock of the morning, up 8.1 per cent. Rio Tinto (down 0.2 per cent), BHP (down 0.2 per cent) and Fortescue (down 0.3 per cent) all lost ground.
It was a big morning for New Zealand-based energy companies Mercury NZ (up 4 per cent) and Meridian Energy (up 3.4 per cent).
Overnight, the S&P 500 slid 0.6 per cent. The Dow Jones fell 0.2 per cent. Drops in Big Tech stocks like Apple helped pull the Nasdaq composite down 0.7 per cent. The ASX lost 1 per cent on Monday.
There were slightly more gainers than losers within the S&P 500 index, but the market was weighed down by losses in technology stocks and other big companies. Apple slumped 3.2 per cent, while Amazon fell 1.9 per cent. Tesla fell 2.4 per cent.
Berkshire Hathaway fell 5 per cent. Legendary investor Warren Buffett announced over the weekend that he would step down as chief executive by the end of the year after six decades at the helm. Buffett will still be chairman of the board of directors.
The OPEC+ group of eight oil producing nations announced over the weekend that it will raise its output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1. US benchmark crude oil fell as much as 4 per cent overnight before moderating.
US crude oil prices fell 1.8 per cent to $US57.22 a barrel. Many producers can no longer turn a profit once oil falls below $US60. Prices are down sharply for the year over worries about an economic slowdown. Energy companies fell. Exxon Mobil lost 2.5 per cent.
UBS agreed to pay $US511 million ($790 million) to settle a US investigation into how Credit Suisse Group, the Swiss bank it bought, helped rich Americans evade taxes even after pledging to stop the practice a decade ago.
A Credit Suisse unit pleaded guilty to conspiring to help its customers file false US tax returns and agreed to pay $US372 million, UBS said in a statement on Monday. The unit will pay an additional $US139 million penalty as part of a related settlement.
Car giant Ford says it expects to take a $US1.5 billion hit to its operating profit from tariffs this year and is withdrawing its full-year financial guidance due to the uncertainty created by the Trump administration’s evolving trade policy. Shares are 1.1 per cent lower in after-hours trading.
Markets are coming off another winning week as they absorb the shock of tariffs and a growing trade war. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on a wide range of imports, sparking global retaliation. Many of the more severe tariffs that were supposed to go into effect in April were delayed by three months, with the notable exception of tariffs against China.
The delays have provided some relief to Wall Street, though uncertainty about the impact from current and future tariffs continues to hang over markets and the economy.
“Uncertainty remains elevated and economic data will likely weaken in the coming months, meaning further bouts of volatility are likely,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer of global equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.
That uncertainty will overshadow the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week.
The Fed is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday. It cut the rate three times in 2024 before taking a more cautious stance. The central bank was concerned that inflation, while easing, was still stubbornly hovering just above its target rate of 2 per cent. Concerns about inflation reigniting have only grown amid the global trade war sparked by Trump’s tariff policy.
The economy has shown some signs that it is feeling the impact from tariffs and the uncertainty over Trump’s policy. The US economy shrank 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, marking the first drop in three years.
The US economy is still showing signs of resilience, however. Consumers have grown more cautious, but still continue to spend. Economic activity in the services sector continued expanding in April, according to a survey from the Institute for Supply Management.
The services sector survey and the latest consumer confidence updates also reflect growing concerns over the economy’s direction. Trump’s rapidly shifting policies on trade have kept the Fed and markets on edge.
Tariffs have been imposed, only to be pulled or delayed, sometimes on a daily basis. The on-again-off-again approach has left businesses, households and economists at a loss in trying to forecast where the economy might be headed and planning accordingly.
The latest salvo in the trade war from Trump came on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform. He said he has authorised a 100 per cent tariff on movies that are produced outside the US. The impact is unclear, as it is common for films to include production at multiple locations around the world.
Netflix slumped 1.9 per cent and Warner Bros’ Discovery fell 2 per cent.
Shoemakers posted gains following the announcement that Skechers is being acquired for $US9 billion and taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital.
Skechers jumped 24.4 per cent, while Crocs rose 3.4 per cent. Deckers Outdoor, which owns the Ugg and Teva brands, rose 1.2 per cent.
Treasury yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.36 per cent from 4.31 per cent late on Friday.
AP, Bloomberg
