Australian shares steady in lacklustre early trading
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More news: The Australian sharemarket is treading water in early trading, with investors on the sidelines in a shortened trading week as uncertainty over US tariffs policy continues
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down just 2 points or 0.03% to 7,759.70 after the first half hour of trade, with gains in financials and technology offset by weakness in energy and materials sectors. Top miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group were all down around 1.5% each after Rio reported a drop in first quarter iron ore shipments. Energy majors Woodside and Santos were similarly down between 15 and 2%, but Karoon Energy lifted nearly 2% despite reporting a dip in March quarter output. Each of the Big Four bank was trading in the green.
Earlier, major US stock indices ended slightly lower as shares of consumer and healthcare companies eased over tariff uncertainty.
Australian shares set for cautious open after choppy Wall Street session
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open barely changed with local investors taking cues from a lower close after a choppy session on Wall Street with tariff uncertainty continuing to be the focus for markets.
The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 3 points or 0.04% at 7,782 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.38%, S&P 500 down 0.17%, Nasdaq down 0.05%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 1.41%, CAC 40 up 0.86%, DAX up 1.43%
- Spot gold: unchanged at USD3,230.69 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.03% to USD64.86/bbl, US WTI down 0.32% to USD61.33/bbl
- AUD: up 0.02% at 63.46 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.56% to USD84,141.81.
The context: All three US stock indices ended slightly lower as shares of consumer and healthcare companies eased over tariff uncertainty, while upbeat results from banks provided some support. Bank of America and Citigroup ended higher after topping estimates but warned that US consumer spending faces huge risks if the upheaval from President Donald Trump's trade policy goes on. Boeing shares fell 2.4% after reports that China has ordered its airlines not to take further deliveries of Boeing jets in response to the US tariffs on Chinese goods.
What to watch: China’s National Bureau of Statistics will publish GDP, industrial production and retail sales data at 12.00pm; quarterly reports from Rio Tinto, Iluka Resources and Karoon Energy.
