Iron ore stocks tank as US tariffs rock global prices
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More news: Australia's largest iron ore stocks tracked a decline in global commodity prices after the US imposed a 10% tariff on imports from China, as well as 25% duties on products from Canada and Mexico.
Champion Iron (-6.6%), Fortescue (-4.5%), Rio Tinto (-2.4%) and BHP (-1.8%) were all trading lower by 2pm AEDT. Materials, down 1.9%, was the second worst performing sector, as the ASX 200 index fell 1.8%.
Iron ore futures were down 1.1% to US$104.50 a tonne on the Singapore Exchange.
ANZ research said a trade war was the biggest challenge to the commodity market and that a loss of export driven demand in China could hurt iron ore demand.
Earlier, Citi said that further expected tariff escalation will be bearish for industrial metals.
Elsewhere:
- Bitcoin shed 3.6% to US$93,557.25;
- Spot gold fell 0.7% to US$2,778.09 an ounce;
- Oil rose, with Brent crude up 0.4% to US$75.99 a barrel and WTI up 1.4% to US$73.55;
- The Australian dollar dropped 1.9% to 60.97 US cents; and
- US futures lowered: Dow Jones (-1.5%), S&P 500 (-2.1%), Nasdaq 100 (-2.7%).
ASX sheds 2% as Trump tariffs trigger broad selloff
The news: The ASX slumped more than 2% in morning trade as the Trump administration's tariff announcement triggered a broad selloff.
The numbers: The ASX 200 was down 2.02% to 8,359.7 by 11:50am AEDT.
All 11 sectors were in the red, with materials (-2.11%), financial (-2.11%) and health care (-1.73%) worst hit by the selloff.
Fisher & Paykel (-5.6%) was one of the worst performers on the ASX 200 after the health equipment provider warned of increased costs under the new tariffs.
Despite a surge in oil prices following the announcement — with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rising as much as 3.7% to USD75.18 a barrel — major ASX oil producers trended down. Woodside Energy (-2.6%), Karoon Energy (-2.4%), Beach Energy (-2.3%) and Santos (-1.6%) all fell, while Ampol rose 0.9%.
Gold edged lower as the US dollar climbed, though ASX gold miners Regis Resources (1.5%), Capricorn Metals (1.2%), Gold Road Resources (0.8%) and Bellevue Gold (0.8%) made up four of the top 10 performers across the ASX 200. Spot gold was last down 0.2% to USD2,791.97 an ounce.
The Australian dollar also weakened against the greenback, sinking nearly 1.5% to 61.20 US cents.
Elsewhere, US futures tumbled, with Dow Jones (-1.24%), S&P 500 (-1.68%) and Nasdaq 100 (-2.26%) all lower.
