Good morning and welcome to the end of Week 32. We’re heading into the station with a red day hanging over our heads, with ASX 200 futures pointing to a -0.2% drop for Australian shares in Friday trade.
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The drop mostly comes from the U.S.’s lead; Wall Street was down as Trump’s punishing tariffs came into effect. More than 60 countries – including us, as well as the EU – now face tariffs of 10% or (in most cases) higher.
Thursday’s implementation marks the first time in a century that any country or global power has wielded levies as high as the one that Trump has just set.
And, not satisfied apparently, Trump also suggested he’d be laying 100% tariffs on non-U.S. computer chips – and bump up the price of electronics.
Under that shadow, the Nasdaq added +0.3% while the S&P and Dow both dropped.
So too the FTSE, though the Nikkei has actually started green, up +0.6%.
Back home, QBE Insurance (ASX:QBE) wowed holders with its quarterly, confirming it’s on track to hit full-year targets. Gross written premium was up 6% at US13.8 billion, the insurance company said.
Block (ASX:XYZ) delivered record income for the quarter, with Jack Dorsey declaring the payments company is “back to growth mode” as it raised guidance to the end of CY25.
We have a new float today too, with Orezone Gold Corporation joining the ranks of the local bourse heading into the weekend. Orezone is looking to raise $75 million and is issuing shares under ticker “ORE” at $1.14 each.
And, Infratil (ASX:IFT) has agreed to sell its retirement business, RetireAustralia, to Invesco for $845 million; Infratil will walk away with about $300 million in hand.
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To forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 65.2 US cents.
And to commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore heads into Friday up softly, selling at $102 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is at $66.40,
Gold is at $3,397 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are down -5% this week at $3.06 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck and happy trading.
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