ASX 200 edges up after United States, United Kingdom strike 'historic' trade deal
Aussie investors have remained uninspired by a 'historic' trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom, with the ASX 200 opening flat on Friday.
The market see-sawed with aluminium producer Alcoa Corporation rising 3.2 per cent, Liontown Resources up 3.7 per cent and Champion Iron adding 2.4 per cent.
Gaming manufacturer Light & Wonder sank 3.8 per cent on Friday, while Westgold Resources dropped 2.7 per cent and Vault Minerals fell 3.1 per cent.
It came after UK and US officials confirmed a 'breakthrough' trade deal which will lower or scrap tariffs.
While the baseline 10 per cent tariff that Trump revealed on "Liberation Day" still applies to British exports, UK steel and aluminium will no longer face the additional 25 per cent levy and the automotive tariff will be reduced to 10 per cent under the newly announced deal.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was a 'fantastic, historic day' as Donald Trump also lauded the deal and said there were more on the horizon as negotiations continued.
"Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honour to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement," Trump posted on Truth Social.
"Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!"
The US will begin trade discussions with China in Switzerland this week where global leaders will look to minimise the whopping tariffs either superpower has on one another.
Wall Street surged on Thursday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 1.1 per cent and the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones both rising 0.6 per cent.
London's FTSE 100 sank 0.3 per cent, Germany's DAX rose one per cent and the EURO STOXX finished up 1.1 per cent on Thursday.
New Zealand's NZX 50 Index is up 0.7 per cent since the market opened on Friday while Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 1.2 per cent.
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Sydney Morning Herald
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The Age
40 minutes ago
- The Age
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
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Weaker-than-expected US private payrolls and services sector data on Wednesday raised concerns about the effects of Trump's erratic trade policies, with investors focusing squarely on Friday's non-farm payrolls report. Initial jobless claims data showed people in the US filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week rose for a second straight week. "I don't think it's some sort of big warning sign right now but it speaks to the fact that the labour market has been softening more and just getting gradually weaker," said Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab. The jobs report comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision later this month, where policy makers are widely expected to hold interest rates. Despite continued calls from Trump to slash interest rates, Fed chair Jerome Powell has opted to stand pat so far, awaiting further data to help dictate the policy decision as tariff volatility prevails. US equities rallied sharply in May, with investors boosting the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq to their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. The S&P 500 remains nearly 3.0 per cent below record highs touched in February. US central bank officials including Fed Board governor Adriana Kugler, Fed Kansas City president Jeffrey Schmid and Fed Philadelphia president Patrick Harker are scheduled to speak later in the day. In early trading on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 126.69 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 42,301.05, the S&P 500 lost 12.71 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 5,958.10 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 31.13 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 19,429.36. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors fell, with consumer staples declining the most with an about 1.0 per cent fall. Brown-Forman fell 14.9 per cent, the most on the S&P 500, after the Jack Daniel's maker forecast a decline in annual revenue and profit. Procter & Gamble said it will cut 7000 jobs, or about 6.0 per cent of its workforce, over the next two years, as part of a restructuring. Shares of the consumer goods bellwether fell 1.3 per cent. Tesla fell 4.5 per cent, touching an over three-week low. The car maker's sales dropped for the fifth straight month in several European markets, data early this week has showed. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 37 new highs and 16 new lows.
