ASX opens lower as miners lead losses on US tariff uncertainty
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More news: Australian shares lowered at the open, tracking declines on Wall Street overnight, as miners led broad losses across the market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 20.8 points, or 0.24%, to 8,568.5 at 10:30am AEST.
Technology was the only sector in the green, adding 0.4%, boosted by a 1.1% gain in accounting software company Xero.
Each of the other sectors fell, with miners shedding 0.7%. Champion Iron (-3.8%), Mineral Resources (-3.6%) and South32 (-2.9%) were among the worst hit.
It followed the appointment of two new non-executive directors to the MinRes board on Monday, and South32's $153 million divestment of its Cerro Matoso ferronickel mine to CoreX.
Gold miners bucked the trend, making up the 10 best performing stocks across the ASX 200. Vault Minerals (6.5%), Westgold Resources (4.4%) and Bellevue Gold (3.7%) led the way.
Australian shares to fall as US tariff plans weigh on Wall Street
The news: Australian shares are poised to drop at the open, tracking steep losses on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump unveiled new tariff plans, including levies on major trading partners such as Japan, South Korea and South Africa.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 47 points to 8,526
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.94%, S&P 500 down 0.79%, and Nasdaq down 0.92%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.35%, DAX up 1.20%, and FTSE 100 down 0.19%
- Spot gold: down 0.02% to USD3,337 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.03% to USD69.56/bbl, and US WTI up 1.37% to USD67.92/bbl
- AUD: down 0.86% to 64.99 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.08% to USD107,991.
The context: Wall Street stocks retreated from all-time highs overnight after Trump announced tariffs of 25% to 40% on nations including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos and Myanmar, starting 1 August.
Trump also warned of an extra 10% tariff on any country aligning with “the Anti-American policies of BRICS.”
Electric car maker Tesla slumped 6.79% after chief executive Elon Musk announced the formation of a new political party named the "America Party", further escalating his feud with Trump.
Meanwhile, the RBA will wrap-up its two-day board meeting today, with economists expecting the central bank to announce a 25 basis point cut to the official cash rate.
