ASX 200 tumbles after Donald Trump's attack on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell sends Wall Street plummeting
The ASX 200 initially dropped about one per cent on Tuesday after markets tumbled in the US when Donald Trump lashed out at Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell for failing to lower interest rates.
Medical tech company Mesoblast sank 4.2 per cent, while uranium miners Deep Yellow (down 5.5 per cent) and Paladin Energy (down about 5.5 per cent) have dropped since the market opened on Tuesday.
The tech and energy sectors are down about two per cent while real estate has dropped more than 1.5 per cent.
The ASX 200 has recovered some losses since opening and hovers about half a per cent lower than its closing price on Thursday afternoon.
Wall Street tumbled on Monday after Trump lashed the Federal Reserve chairman, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, in a scathing social media post where the US President demanded an interest rate cut.
Trump labelled Mr Powell a 'major loser' and claimed there was 'virtually no inflation' and that energy and food prices were 'trending down'.
'With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
'Europe has already 'lowered' seven times.
'Powell has always been 'Too Late,' except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?'
The US President's attack is just one of many against the Federal Reserve chairman and follows a White House executive saying Trump was looking into whether he could fire Mr Powell.
Markets fell after the post went live with the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping about 2.5 per cent, the S&P 500 fall 2.4 per cent and the NYSE sinking 1.8 per cent by the end of the day.
Gold has surged to a new record high as investors turn to the valuable commodity amid fears the trade war between China and the US will continue to escalate.
Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd said this was a boon for gold stocks with West African Resources up almost four per cent, Regis Resources rising more than two per cent and Westgold Resources jumping 2.5 per cent on Tuesday.
'We've never seen the price of gold as high as it is right now,' Boyd said.
'Investors are flocking to gold over the past year.'
Gold is up more than 40 per cent over the past 12 months and has now surpassed US$3400.
New Zealand's NZX 50 Index is down about 0.9 per cent as Japan's Nikkei 225 is down about 0.3 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI 200 opened relatively flat on Tuesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
31 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
‘Very serious consequences': Donald Trump threatens Elon Musk if he bankrolls Democrats amid heated stoush
US President Donald Trump has threatened tech billionaire Elon Musk with 'very serious consequences' if he bankrolls Democrat candidates at the next election. The pair have traded barbs with one another through social media following disagreements over Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill". In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say what possible consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Musk. Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla CEO was over, Trump said, "I would assume so". When asked if he had any desire to repair his relationship with Musk, the President said, 'No'. "I have no intention of speaking to him," Trump said. However, Trump said he had not thought about terminating US government contracts with Musk's businesses, StarLink and SpaceX. Musk and Trump began exchanging insults this week, as Musk denounced Trump's bill as a "disgusting abomination". Musk's opposition to the measure complicated efforts to pass the legislation in Congress, where Republicans hold only slim majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. The bill narrowly passed the House last month and is now before the Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans are considering making changes. Analysts estimate the measure would add $2.4 trillion to the $36.2 trillion US debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal hawks. Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States "to represent the 80 per cent in the middle". On Thursday, Trump said he was "disappointed" in Musk who had earlier described the bill as a "disgusting abomination", before accusing the president of being in files relating to dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Asked about the feud on a phone call with CNN, the President kept his response short. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon," he said on Friday (local time). "He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem." CNN host Dana Bash then asked the President if he had spoken to Musk. 'No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well," he said. The bitter feud has also led to the President to consider selling or even giving away the red Tesla Model S he purchased earlier this year, a senior White House official said. Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud. -with Reuters
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Trade talks rest on Anthony Albanese's meeting with Donald Trump in Canada
Australia's case for exemptions or relief from American tariffs will rest on Anthony Albanese's meeting next week with US President Donald Trump. Trade Minister Don Farrell had two conversations with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of OECD and World Trade Organisation meetings in Paris last week to press Australia's case, but says it's clear the leaders need to make the final call. Ministers and officials at all levels have consistently been arguing the US shouldn't impose tariffs on Australia because it has a trade surplus here, selling more to Australians than it buys each year. The Trump administration has so far imposed hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, which have just risen to 50 per cent, and also slugged Australia with a 10 per cent so-called reciprocal tariff despite Australia not having tariffs on any US goods. Mr Albanese and Senator Farrell have repeatedly said the imposts are not the actions of a friend. Nevertheless, Senator Farrell said he'd had a 'friendly discussion' with Mr Greer but the final decision would be made at a higher level. 'He certainly made it clear that these are ultimately decisions that the President of the United States will make,' the minister told Sky News on Sunday. 'But I certainly haven't given up on the prospect of getting these tariffs removed, and every opportunity I get, I'll continue to pursue that argument with the United States.' Mr Albanese has flagged he expects to meet Mr Trump for the first time on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada next weekend. The Government is in the final stages of a review of the rules around American beef imports, with Trump administration figures repeatedly raising Australia's 'ban' on US meat as one of their trade gripes. Australia has biosecurity restrictions on the import of Canadian and Mexican beef that is slaughtered in the US and Mr Albanese has insisted his Government will not risk the safety of local agriculture by relaxing rules. The UK has secured exemptions from some of the US tariffs by striking a new deal that in part allows greater market access for American beef. Shadow finance minister James Paterson pointed to the UK deal as a measure of the success of Mr Albanese's imminent meeting with Mr Trump. '(UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer has now achieved a partial exemption from the steel and aluminium tariffs, and Australia is at least as good an ally of the United States as the United Kingdom is and so there's no reason why the Prime Minister shouldn't at least be able to secure that exemption,' Senator Paterson told ABC's Insiders. 'I'm just saying that Keir Starmer proves that it is possible to get an exemption. It is not an impossible task.' Senator Farrell said the main topic of discussions with counterparts at the WTO and OECD was ensuring other countries didn't increase their protectionism in the face of the US moves. He pointed out Australia hadn't his China with counter-imposts when it imposed trade barriers on goods such as wine, barley and lobster, and nor had it retaliate against the US. 'I think there's a move around the world to push the case for less protectionism and more free and fair trade,' he said. 'I'm hopeful that those countries around the world who do believe in free and fair trade can reach agreement to extend free trade agreements across the globe so that, irrespective of what the Americans might choose to do, we have a greater diversity of trading partners.'
9 News
an hour ago
- 9 News
The Washington power couple straddling the Trump-Musk feud
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here They're the Washington couple at the centre of power in the Trump administration. They're also straddling opposing sides of an explosive breakup between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk . CNN reported last week that Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff, would be departing her senior role at the White House as a top spokesperson and adviser for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. She was on her way to work for Musk as he went back to running his companies, helping the tech titan manage and arrange interviews unrelated to his time in government. Washington power couple - Katie Miller and her husband Stephen Miller. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty/CNN) But days later, amid the smoldering ruin of Musk and Trump's epic meltdown on Thursday over social media, that job suddenly took on a whole new layer. Among the attacks both men lobbed at each other was Musk endorsing the possibility of impeaching Trump and installing Vice President JD Vance in his place. Trump, in turn, raised the possibility of terminating federal contracts for Musk's companies. The episode has left the Millers on conflicting sides of the biggest breakup of Trump's second term, spawning gossip among White House aides and rounds of speculation about how the fallout could impact the political fortunes of one of the most powerful couples in Trump's Washington, where loyalty reigns. Elon Musk, centre, and Stephen Miller, right, during a meeting in the Oval Office in February. (Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg/Getty/CNN) "Everyone is talking about it," a former Trump staffer told CNN. Katie Miller was in Texas last week for the series of interviews Musk held with space and technology journalists as SpaceX's Starship had its ninth test flight. It was there that Musk first delicately expressed he was "disappointed" in the Republican's domestic policy bill in an interview with CBS News. Her X account is now a steady stream of laudatory posts about Musk and his companies, with a banner photo of a SpaceX rocket launching into space and a biography that says, "wife of @stephenm." Her only social media post on Friday was a reply with laughing emojis to an altered photo of her husband as a Home Depot employee attached to a post about immigration raids on the chain's stores. Elon Musk and his son X Æ accompanied by Katie Miller at the US Capitol Building in May. (via CNN) One former colleague told CNN that she will ultimately need to make a choice. "She has a choice between Elon and Trump, but it can't be both," the administration official said. Musk unfollowed Stephen Miller on X on Thursday, although both Millers continued following Musk on the platform into Friday. There are divided views on how the situation will impact Stephen Miller's ascendance. Stephen Miller was a part of Trump's first administration. (AP) Among Trump's closest advisers, many believe he is surpassed in power only by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, fueling speculation among some over whether he could take over should Wiles decide to move on. "This whole thing will definitely make that more complicated," one senior White House official told CNN. "Katie being paid by Elon is not good for Stephen." Another senior White House official strongly pushed back on the idea that this episode with Musk would impact Miller in any way with the President. "Next to Susie, Trump trusts and relies on Stephen the most," the official said, adding that the President and top brass were understanding that his wife working for Musk had nothing to do with Stephen or the current state of events. Katie Miller declined to comment for this story. The Millers attend a state dinner in Washington to honour then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (Alastair Pike/AFP/Getty Images via CNN) Deeply connected and influential in Republican circles and at the highest levels of government, Stephen Miller and Katie Miller (née Waldman) met during Trump's first term in 2018. He was a senior adviser and speechwriter at the White House; she was on the Department of Homeland Security's public affairs team and on her way to becoming then-Vice President Mike Pence's communications director. He developed a reputation as the architect of some of the administration's most hardline immigration policies, becoming an influential and trusted aide in the Trump orbit. She developed her own reputation as a staunch supporter of those policies, once reflecting on a trip to the US-Mexico border as the administration came under fire for its child separation policy. "My family and colleagues told me that when I have kids I'll think about the separations differently. But I don't think so … DHS sent me to the border to see the separations for myself – to try to make me more compassionate – but it didn't work," Miller told NBC News journalist Jacob Soboroff in an interview for his book, "Separated." The pair married at Trump's Washington, DC, hotel in February 2020. Trump attended the wedding. In the four years after Trump left office, both set their sights on a Trump return to the White House. Stephen Miller launched a conservative nonprofit group, America First Legal Foundation, that served in part as a prelude to the policy of Trump's second term. Katie Miller headed to the private sector, where she consulted a number of major companies, including Apple. They were also raising three young children. Stephen Miller returned to the White House in January with a vast mandate, deeply involved in many of the president's signature policy initiatives and further empowered from the first term. Katie Miller joined the administration as well, working on behalf of DOGE and Musk, who had become a new figure in the Trump orbit after being an active campaign surrogate and 2024 megadonor. Like Musk, Katie Miller was working at the White House as a "Special Government Employee", which limits the number of days one can work within the administration. As their professional lives intertwined, the couple also became personally close with Musk, socialising outside of work. In the heat of the Thursday afternoon social media showdown, Stephen Miller had been scheduled to appear on Larry Kudlow's show on Fox Business Network – an appearance that was canceled. "We lost Mr Miller to a meeting in the Oval Office. Perfectly understandable. When I was in government, it would happen all the time. We'd have to kill a TV show. You're at the president's beck and call," Kudlow said during his eponymous broadcast. This is not the first time Trump has divided a marital relationship. During his first term, Trump lashed out at the husband of one of his top advisers, Kellyanne Conway. Her husband, George Conway, had been intensely critical of Trump on social media. "He's a whack job. There's no question about it. But I really don't know him," Trump said at the time of George Conway. "I think he's doing a tremendous disservice to a wonderful wife." In 2023, the couple announced they were filing for divorce. George Conway, a prolific user of Musk's X platform and ardent anti-Trump figure, posted dozens of times about the Trump-Musk spat. "Does anyone have any updates on Katie Miller?" he asked Thursday evening. Donald Trump elon musk US POLITICS USA World CONTACT US Property News: The last inner Sydney suburbs where houses cost under $2m.
