$A's ‘spectacular' iron ore-led rally could extend on Trump-China deal
That is the view of Commonwealth Bank strategists, who say a meeting between Chinese officials and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent in Stockholm could be 'a catalyst for more Aussie dollar gains'.
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Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Wall Street mixed amid focus on Federal Reserve meeting
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have touched fresh record highs as investors assess a spate of earnings and turn their focus to the US Federal Reserve's much anticipated policy meeting. In early trading on Tuesday, the Dow fell 0.08 per cent, to 44,803.16, the S&P 500 gained 7.45 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 6,397.42, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 40.19 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 21,218.78. The blue-chip index was currently about 200 points below its record peak. Key Dow components UnitedHealth and Boeing reported mixed quarterly results on the day. Health insurer UnitedHealth fell 4.2 per cent after a disappointing profit forecast while Boeing lost 2.7 per cent despite reporting a smaller second-quarter loss. UnitedHealth's stock has lost nearly half its value from the beginning of 2025. On the day, the healthcare index lagged other sectors and was down 1.1 per cent. Meanwhile, United Parcel Service became the latest victim of US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs as the stock tumbled 8.0 per cent after the company reported a lower-than-expected second-quarter profit. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were largely aided this week by a United States-European Union trade deal that halved tariffs to 15 per cent and boosted expectations of more agreements ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline. Trump has also floated a potential "world tariff" of 15 per cent to 20 per cent for non-negotiating countries. Key negotiations between the US and China entered their second day in Stockholm as the two leading economies aim to iron out their trade conflict and possibly produce a 90-day extension to the tariff truce brokered in May. Meanwhile, India was preparing for higher US tariffs - potentially as high as 25 per cent - on some exports as it opts to hold the line on new trade concessions ahead of the August 1 deadline, according to two Indian government sources. The International Monetary Fund was looking at the details of the trade agreements the United States has struck in recent days to assess their economic effect. Earnings from tech heavyweights Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are scheduled later this week, which could test Wall Street's record run. Spotify slumped 10 per cent after the company forecast third-quarter profit below estimates. Meanwhile, consumer confidence in July increased more than expected to 97.2. US job openings fell to 7.437 million in June, JOLTS data indicated. However, recent data has shown resilience in the labour market despite initial signs of inflation from tariffs. "It looks like companies are tightening up their hiring. The proportion that it dropped wasn't large but it's not in the right direction," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners. The US central bank is set to begin its two-day policy meeting later in the day. While the Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday, traders will closely analyse policy makers' remarks to gauge the timing of future moves. According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in about a 63.6 per cent chance of a rate cut in September. Among other earnings-related moves, Cadence Design rose 10 per cent after the chip design software provider raised its annual sales and profit forecast. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and nine new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 34 new lows.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Trump opens golf course in Scotland before heading home
US President Donald Trump has formally opened a new golf course at his sprawling property in Scotland, saying he would play a quick round before heading home to focus on addressing crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. Trump, wrapping up a five-day visit to Scotland, was joined by former football players, golfers and business leaders for a first round of golf at his new second 18-hole course at Trump International near Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially billed as a private visit, the trip quickly morphed into a diplomatic mission, including a trade agreement sealed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bilateral meetings with British officials and phone calls aimed at ending a nascent war between Cambodia and Thailand. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump raised pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Asked at Tuesday's event what he would say to Netanyahu, Trump said he was trying to get things "straightened out". During his talks with Starmer, Trump said he disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment there was no starvation in Gaza, while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a much tighter deadline to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine. Flanked by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, with several grandchildren nearby, Trump raved about the beauty of the new golf course in the dunes of northeastern Scotland, before teeing off. "I look forward to playing it today. We're going to play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new course, alluding in part to a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. "We stopped a war - we've stopped about five wars. So that's much more important than playing golf." Several nations have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a message endorsed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a social media post in recent days. Golfers Paul McGinley and Rich Beem teed off with Trump and his son Eric, and an eclectic mix of notable figures followed. Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker and top Ukraine goal-scorer Andriy Shevchenko, who is now the president of his country's football association, was a guest, as were fellow ex-football players Robbie Fowler, Gianfranco Zola and Jim Leighton. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who met with Trump earlier on Tuesday, also attended, along with Adrian Mardell, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who represents Britain's finance industry. US President Donald Trump has formally opened a new golf course at his sprawling property in Scotland, saying he would play a quick round before heading home to focus on addressing crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. Trump, wrapping up a five-day visit to Scotland, was joined by former football players, golfers and business leaders for a first round of golf at his new second 18-hole course at Trump International near Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially billed as a private visit, the trip quickly morphed into a diplomatic mission, including a trade agreement sealed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bilateral meetings with British officials and phone calls aimed at ending a nascent war between Cambodia and Thailand. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump raised pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Asked at Tuesday's event what he would say to Netanyahu, Trump said he was trying to get things "straightened out". During his talks with Starmer, Trump said he disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment there was no starvation in Gaza, while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a much tighter deadline to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine. Flanked by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, with several grandchildren nearby, Trump raved about the beauty of the new golf course in the dunes of northeastern Scotland, before teeing off. "I look forward to playing it today. We're going to play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new course, alluding in part to a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. "We stopped a war - we've stopped about five wars. So that's much more important than playing golf." Several nations have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a message endorsed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a social media post in recent days. Golfers Paul McGinley and Rich Beem teed off with Trump and his son Eric, and an eclectic mix of notable figures followed. Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker and top Ukraine goal-scorer Andriy Shevchenko, who is now the president of his country's football association, was a guest, as were fellow ex-football players Robbie Fowler, Gianfranco Zola and Jim Leighton. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who met with Trump earlier on Tuesday, also attended, along with Adrian Mardell, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who represents Britain's finance industry. US President Donald Trump has formally opened a new golf course at his sprawling property in Scotland, saying he would play a quick round before heading home to focus on addressing crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. Trump, wrapping up a five-day visit to Scotland, was joined by former football players, golfers and business leaders for a first round of golf at his new second 18-hole course at Trump International near Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially billed as a private visit, the trip quickly morphed into a diplomatic mission, including a trade agreement sealed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bilateral meetings with British officials and phone calls aimed at ending a nascent war between Cambodia and Thailand. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump raised pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Asked at Tuesday's event what he would say to Netanyahu, Trump said he was trying to get things "straightened out". During his talks with Starmer, Trump said he disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment there was no starvation in Gaza, while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a much tighter deadline to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine. Flanked by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, with several grandchildren nearby, Trump raved about the beauty of the new golf course in the dunes of northeastern Scotland, before teeing off. "I look forward to playing it today. We're going to play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new course, alluding in part to a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. "We stopped a war - we've stopped about five wars. So that's much more important than playing golf." Several nations have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a message endorsed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a social media post in recent days. Golfers Paul McGinley and Rich Beem teed off with Trump and his son Eric, and an eclectic mix of notable figures followed. Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker and top Ukraine goal-scorer Andriy Shevchenko, who is now the president of his country's football association, was a guest, as were fellow ex-football players Robbie Fowler, Gianfranco Zola and Jim Leighton. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who met with Trump earlier on Tuesday, also attended, along with Adrian Mardell, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who represents Britain's finance industry. US President Donald Trump has formally opened a new golf course at his sprawling property in Scotland, saying he would play a quick round before heading home to focus on addressing crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. Trump, wrapping up a five-day visit to Scotland, was joined by former football players, golfers and business leaders for a first round of golf at his new second 18-hole course at Trump International near Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially billed as a private visit, the trip quickly morphed into a diplomatic mission, including a trade agreement sealed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bilateral meetings with British officials and phone calls aimed at ending a nascent war between Cambodia and Thailand. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump raised pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Asked at Tuesday's event what he would say to Netanyahu, Trump said he was trying to get things "straightened out". During his talks with Starmer, Trump said he disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment there was no starvation in Gaza, while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a much tighter deadline to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine. Flanked by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, with several grandchildren nearby, Trump raved about the beauty of the new golf course in the dunes of northeastern Scotland, before teeing off. "I look forward to playing it today. We're going to play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new course, alluding in part to a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. "We stopped a war - we've stopped about five wars. So that's much more important than playing golf." Several nations have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a message endorsed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a social media post in recent days. Golfers Paul McGinley and Rich Beem teed off with Trump and his son Eric, and an eclectic mix of notable figures followed. Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker and top Ukraine goal-scorer Andriy Shevchenko, who is now the president of his country's football association, was a guest, as were fellow ex-football players Robbie Fowler, Gianfranco Zola and Jim Leighton. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who met with Trump earlier on Tuesday, also attended, along with Adrian Mardell, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who represents Britain's finance industry.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Trump deciding trade deals by August 1: Lutnick
US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal". US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal". US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal". US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal".
