ASX set to edge up, Wall Street slides lower
The S&P 500 was down 0.4 per cent in afternoon trading, coming off its best day since May, which followed its worst day since May. The Dow Jones fell 52 points, or 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4 per cent lower.
The Australian sharemarket is set for gains, with futures at 4.55am AEST pointing to a rise of 19 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The ASX surged 1.3 per cent to close at a record high on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was flat at 64.67 US cents at 5.11am.
A weaker-than-expected report on activity for US businesses in the transportation, retail and other services industries added to worries that President Donald Trump's tariffs may be hurting the economy. But increased hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, along with a stream of stronger-than-expected profit reports from US companies, are helping to keep the losses in check.
Edgewell Personal Care, the company behind the Schick, Playtex and Banana Boat brands, fell 21.6 per cent after reporting lower profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Rod Little said it was a very weak season for sun care in North America, while tariffs are acting as a drag on profits.
Caterpillar shifted between small gains and losses after likewise reporting a profit that fell short of analysts' expectations. Its operating profit sank 18 per cent from a year earlier, largely due to tariffs making its manufacturing costs more expensive. The stock was most recently up 0.2 per cent.
All kinds of companies have been telling investors how much they expect tariffs to shave off their earnings this year, and trade policy was one of the most common topics US services businesses talked about in the latest monthly survey compiled by the Institute for Supply Management about their activity.
'Tariffs are causing additional costs as we continue to purchase equipment and supplies,' one company in the health care and social assistance business said, for example. 'Though we need to continue with these purchases, the cost is significant enough that we are postponing other projects to accommodate these cost changes.'
Another business in the real estate, rental and leasing industry told the institute that economic 'uncertainty remains the dominant theme. However, the tariff talk has turned out to be much more bluster than actual policy, and businesses have seemed to tune out the noise.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
24 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘A very big threat': Australia defends PBS as Trump flags 250% tariffs on medicines
Health Minister Mark Butler is planning to speed up medicines approvals as United States President Donald Trump threatens to put tariffs of up to 250 per cent on pharmaceutical products, which could affect $2 billion worth of Australian exports. Butler said Trump's latest threat would not change the discount Australians received on medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, but revealed he would get advice within days about accelerating the approvals process for new drugs in Australia – a key issue that US pharmaceutical giants have raised with Trump. Speeding up the timeframe for US medicines to land on pharmacy shelves could improve the Australian government's standing with the Trump administration, although it does not deal with the White House's bigger concern that Americans pay more for medicines than citizens of other countries. Trump's anger with what he called 'foreign freeloading nations' prompted him to threaten tariffs of up to 250 per cent on drug imports this week. Butler said it was a 'a very big threat'. 'It's one we're working very hard to engage with the Americans on,' Butler said on Thursday. Loading 'The numbers are jumping around … They were 200 per cent a couple of weeks ago, and now they're 250 per cent potentially. They are very, very big tariffs. 'We are making the case very strongly, but I'm not going to pretend that the US Administration doesn't appear to be pretty serious about this.' Australia's PBS – under which the government subsidises drugs and Australians can buy expensive medicines for a maximum price of $31.60, soon to become $25 – has been brought up repeatedly during Trump's trade wars as US pharmaceutical companies push the president to punish countries that limit their market access.
The Age
24 minutes ago
- The Age
‘A very big threat': Australia defends PBS as Trump flags 250% tariffs on medicines
Health Minister Mark Butler is planning to speed up medicines approvals as United States President Donald Trump threatens to put tariffs of up to 250 per cent on pharmaceutical products, which could affect $2 billion worth of Australian exports. Butler said Trump's latest threat would not change the discount Australians received on medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, but revealed he would get advice within days about accelerating the approvals process for new drugs in Australia – a key issue that US pharmaceutical giants have raised with Trump. Speeding up the timeframe for US medicines to land on pharmacy shelves could improve the Australian government's standing with the Trump administration, although it does not deal with the White House's bigger concern that Americans pay more for medicines than citizens of other countries. Trump's anger with what he called 'foreign freeloading nations' prompted him to threaten tariffs of up to 250 per cent on drug imports this week. Butler said it was a 'a very big threat'. 'It's one we're working very hard to engage with the Americans on,' Butler said on Thursday. Loading 'The numbers are jumping around … They were 200 per cent a couple of weeks ago, and now they're 250 per cent potentially. They are very, very big tariffs. 'We are making the case very strongly, but I'm not going to pretend that the US Administration doesn't appear to be pretty serious about this.' Australia's PBS – under which the government subsidises drugs and Australians can buy expensive medicines for a maximum price of $31.60, soon to become $25 – has been brought up repeatedly during Trump's trade wars as US pharmaceutical companies push the president to punish countries that limit their market access.
AU Financial Review
24 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Redcape buys $30m Queensland pub, launches capital raise
Redcape Hotel Group has bought The Orion Hotel in south-east Queensland for $30 million and launched a capital raising to fund more deals as it swings back strongly into expansion phase. It's the latest in a string of acquisitions by the hotel fund over the past 12 months, totalling around $250 million. The unlisted fund, one of the biggest of those managed by ASX-listed MA Financial, has accumulated a $1 billion portfolio of hotels in NSW and Queensland.
