BPO TV

Market movements are up and down this week. Yesterday our local market closed 1.8% in the red, with energy and materials down the most. Champion Iron (ASX:CIA), Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) took the biggest hit down 12% to 14% in a single session. 

Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause on the 'reciprocal' tariffs his administration had applied to roughly 60 countries.

That means many countries will have their tariffs reduced to a universal rate of 10%, except for China, which will have its tariff increased to 125%. It comes after the U.S. increased tariffs on China to 104% yesterday, which a Chinese Government spokesperson called "economic bullying".

Australia's tariff was always at the 10% rate (which was the minimum rate imposed), so this means there has been no change for us.

Trump said the 90-day pause would allow "more than 75 countries" that had started negotiations with the White House, seeking to reduce its tariffs, to reach a deal.

The announcement of a pause led to a record-breaking day on the U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones closed 7.87% higher, the S&P500 up a record 9.52%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 12.16%. It was a historic surge on Wall Street, with the S&P500 seeing its third- largest gain in a singe day since World War II. During the trading session, we saw surprising trading volume of approximately 30 billion shares, the highest level in history, as per records which date back 18 years ago. 

What to watch today:

Locally today, the SPI futures are 6.62% higher, after heavy buying in New York. 

The de-escalation in trade tensions helped restore confidence across community markets:

• Crude Oil has advanced 5.86% to US$63.07 per barrel
• Natural gas is up 7.75% 
• Gold us up 3.58% to $3,084.62, as the US – China tensioned fueled the safe- haven demand 
• While iron ore is down 2%, trading at US$99.25. 

And one Australian dollar is buying US$0.62, 90.64 Japanese Yen, $0.48 British Pence and a NZ$1.09. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter have upgraded their recommendation from JB Hi- Fi (ASX:JBH) from a Hold to a Buy and have maintained their price target of $99.00. at JBH’s current share price of $88.91, this implies 11.3% share price growth in a year. 
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in the ASX’s share price, indicating the stock price may rise today from it’s close of $66.21.