Wall Street mixed as US-China trade talks grab focus
Wall Street's main indexes are mixed as investors await the outcome of ongoing trade talks between the United States and China aimed at cooling a tariff dispute that has bruised global markets this year.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with China were going well as officials from the two sides met for a second day in London.
Investors are hoping for an improvement in ties after the relief around a preliminary deal struck last month gave way to fresh doubts when the US accused China of blocking exports critical to sectors such as aerospace, semiconductors and defence.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday the US was likely to agree to lift export controls on some semiconductors in return for China speeding up the delivery of rare earths.
"I think these issues will be resolved but I think it's still early days ... but the fact that they're talking certainly is positive," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial.
"We're not making progress yards at a time but inches at a time."
In early trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.22 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 42,742.88, the S&P 500 gained 10.30 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 6,016.18 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 53.92 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 19,645.16.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by energy with a 1.7 per cent gain, tracking strength in oil prices.
Communication services stocks added 0.9 per cent.
US equities rallied sharply in May, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq marking their best monthly gains since November 2023, helped by upbeat earnings reports and a softening of US President Donald Trump's harsh trade stance.
The S&P 500 remains about 2.0 per cent below all-time highs touched in February while the Nasdaq is about 2.6 per cent below its record peaks reached in December.
Investors are awaiting US consumer prices data on Wednesday for clues on the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory.
The World Bank slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 per centage point to 2.3 per cent, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies.
Shares of McDonald's fell 1.4 per cent, weighing on the blue-chip Dow Index, after a report Redburn Atlantic downgraded the fast-food giant to "sell" from "buy".
Most megacap and growth stocks were mixed.
Tesla shares advanced 2.6 per cent.
Insmed shares jumped 27.7 per cent after the drug maker said its experimental drug significantly reduced blood pressure in the lungs and improved exercise capacity in patients in a mid-stage study.
US-listed shares of Tencent Music Entertainment Group advanced 2.2 per cent after the Chinese company said it would buy domestic long-form audio platform Ximalaya for about $US2.4 billion ($A3.7 billion) in cash and stock.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.52-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.76-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 29 new lows.
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Mercury
2 hours ago
- Mercury
ASX up on Wall Street highs; Tetratherix pops on debut
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You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Lunch Wrap: ASX up as Wall Street breaks records
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Asia shares track Wall St gains before payrolls test
Asia shares have firmed as seemingly unquenchable demand for technology companies lifted S&P 500 futures to another all-time peak, while the dollar dipped on concerns US jobs data will show enough weakness to justify larger rate cuts. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge US tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by President Donald Trump's preferred July 4 deadline. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the nation's debt, testing foreign appetite for US Treasuries. There was no doubting the demand for the US tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon. Nasdaq futures rose another 0.3 per cent, while S&P 500 e-minis added 0.2 per cent. The bullish sentiment spilled over into Japan's Nikkei which rose 1.0 per cent in early trade on Monday, while South Korean stocks gained 0.5 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.1 per cent. A holiday on Friday means US payrolls are a day early, with analysts forecasting a rise of 110,000 in June with the jobless rate ticking up to 4.3 per cent. The resilience of the labour market is a major reason the majority of Federal Reserve members say they can afford to wait on cutting rates until they can gauge the true impact of tariffs on inflation, so a weak report would stoke speculation of a rate cut in July rather than September. "While initial jobless claims retreated somewhat from their recent high, continuing claims jumped higher yet again," noted Michael Feroli, head of US economics at JPMorgan. "Consumers' assessment of labour market conditions also deteriorated in the latest confidence report." "Both of these developments suggest that the unemployment rate in June should tick up to 4.3 per cent, with a significant risk of reaching 4.4 per cent." The latter outcome would likely see futures push up the chance of a July easing from the current 18 per cent and price in more than the present 63 basis points of cuts for this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have an opportunity to repeat his cautious outlook when he joins several other central bank chiefs at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra on Tuesday. The prospect of an eventual policy easing has helped Treasuries weather worries about the US budget deficit and the huge amount of borrowing it entails. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were steady at 3.27 per cent, having fallen 9 basis points last week. The dollar has not fared so well, in part due to concerns tariffs and chaotic policies from the White House will drag on economic growth and erode the country's claim to exceptionalism. The euro was near its highest since September 2021 at $1.1731, having climbed 1.7 per cent last week, while sterling stood near a similar peak at $1.3719. The dollar was down a fraction at 144.48 yen, after losing one per cent last week, while the dollar index dipped to 97.163. James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, noted the dollar had fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," he added. "So, we suspect that this could be a pivotal period for the greenback - either it turns around here or there is another five per cent or so fall around the corner." In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment has undermined gold, which slipped to $US3,266 ($A4,999) an ounce and further away from April's record top of $US3,500 ($A5,357). Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12 per cent slide last week. Brent dropped a further 55 cents to $US67.22 ($A102.88) a barrel, while US crude eased 68 cents to $US64.84 ($A99.24) per barrel. Asia shares have firmed as seemingly unquenchable demand for technology companies lifted S&P 500 futures to another all-time peak, while the dollar dipped on concerns US jobs data will show enough weakness to justify larger rate cuts. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge US tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by President Donald Trump's preferred July 4 deadline. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the nation's debt, testing foreign appetite for US Treasuries. There was no doubting the demand for the US tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon. Nasdaq futures rose another 0.3 per cent, while S&P 500 e-minis added 0.2 per cent. The bullish sentiment spilled over into Japan's Nikkei which rose 1.0 per cent in early trade on Monday, while South Korean stocks gained 0.5 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.1 per cent. A holiday on Friday means US payrolls are a day early, with analysts forecasting a rise of 110,000 in June with the jobless rate ticking up to 4.3 per cent. The resilience of the labour market is a major reason the majority of Federal Reserve members say they can afford to wait on cutting rates until they can gauge the true impact of tariffs on inflation, so a weak report would stoke speculation of a rate cut in July rather than September. "While initial jobless claims retreated somewhat from their recent high, continuing claims jumped higher yet again," noted Michael Feroli, head of US economics at JPMorgan. "Consumers' assessment of labour market conditions also deteriorated in the latest confidence report." "Both of these developments suggest that the unemployment rate in June should tick up to 4.3 per cent, with a significant risk of reaching 4.4 per cent." The latter outcome would likely see futures push up the chance of a July easing from the current 18 per cent and price in more than the present 63 basis points of cuts for this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have an opportunity to repeat his cautious outlook when he joins several other central bank chiefs at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra on Tuesday. The prospect of an eventual policy easing has helped Treasuries weather worries about the US budget deficit and the huge amount of borrowing it entails. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were steady at 3.27 per cent, having fallen 9 basis points last week. The dollar has not fared so well, in part due to concerns tariffs and chaotic policies from the White House will drag on economic growth and erode the country's claim to exceptionalism. The euro was near its highest since September 2021 at $1.1731, having climbed 1.7 per cent last week, while sterling stood near a similar peak at $1.3719. The dollar was down a fraction at 144.48 yen, after losing one per cent last week, while the dollar index dipped to 97.163. James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, noted the dollar had fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," he added. "So, we suspect that this could be a pivotal period for the greenback - either it turns around here or there is another five per cent or so fall around the corner." In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment has undermined gold, which slipped to $US3,266 ($A4,999) an ounce and further away from April's record top of $US3,500 ($A5,357). Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12 per cent slide last week. Brent dropped a further 55 cents to $US67.22 ($A102.88) a barrel, while US crude eased 68 cents to $US64.84 ($A99.24) per barrel. Asia shares have firmed as seemingly unquenchable demand for technology companies lifted S&P 500 futures to another all-time peak, while the dollar dipped on concerns US jobs data will show enough weakness to justify larger rate cuts. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge US tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by President Donald Trump's preferred July 4 deadline. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the nation's debt, testing foreign appetite for US Treasuries. There was no doubting the demand for the US tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon. Nasdaq futures rose another 0.3 per cent, while S&P 500 e-minis added 0.2 per cent. The bullish sentiment spilled over into Japan's Nikkei which rose 1.0 per cent in early trade on Monday, while South Korean stocks gained 0.5 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.1 per cent. A holiday on Friday means US payrolls are a day early, with analysts forecasting a rise of 110,000 in June with the jobless rate ticking up to 4.3 per cent. The resilience of the labour market is a major reason the majority of Federal Reserve members say they can afford to wait on cutting rates until they can gauge the true impact of tariffs on inflation, so a weak report would stoke speculation of a rate cut in July rather than September. "While initial jobless claims retreated somewhat from their recent high, continuing claims jumped higher yet again," noted Michael Feroli, head of US economics at JPMorgan. "Consumers' assessment of labour market conditions also deteriorated in the latest confidence report." "Both of these developments suggest that the unemployment rate in June should tick up to 4.3 per cent, with a significant risk of reaching 4.4 per cent." The latter outcome would likely see futures push up the chance of a July easing from the current 18 per cent and price in more than the present 63 basis points of cuts for this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have an opportunity to repeat his cautious outlook when he joins several other central bank chiefs at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra on Tuesday. The prospect of an eventual policy easing has helped Treasuries weather worries about the US budget deficit and the huge amount of borrowing it entails. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were steady at 3.27 per cent, having fallen 9 basis points last week. The dollar has not fared so well, in part due to concerns tariffs and chaotic policies from the White House will drag on economic growth and erode the country's claim to exceptionalism. The euro was near its highest since September 2021 at $1.1731, having climbed 1.7 per cent last week, while sterling stood near a similar peak at $1.3719. The dollar was down a fraction at 144.48 yen, after losing one per cent last week, while the dollar index dipped to 97.163. James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, noted the dollar had fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," he added. "So, we suspect that this could be a pivotal period for the greenback - either it turns around here or there is another five per cent or so fall around the corner." In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment has undermined gold, which slipped to $US3,266 ($A4,999) an ounce and further away from April's record top of $US3,500 ($A5,357). Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12 per cent slide last week. Brent dropped a further 55 cents to $US67.22 ($A102.88) a barrel, while US crude eased 68 cents to $US64.84 ($A99.24) per barrel. Asia shares have firmed as seemingly unquenchable demand for technology companies lifted S&P 500 futures to another all-time peak, while the dollar dipped on concerns US jobs data will show enough weakness to justify larger rate cuts. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge US tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by President Donald Trump's preferred July 4 deadline. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the nation's debt, testing foreign appetite for US Treasuries. There was no doubting the demand for the US tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon. Nasdaq futures rose another 0.3 per cent, while S&P 500 e-minis added 0.2 per cent. The bullish sentiment spilled over into Japan's Nikkei which rose 1.0 per cent in early trade on Monday, while South Korean stocks gained 0.5 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.1 per cent. A holiday on Friday means US payrolls are a day early, with analysts forecasting a rise of 110,000 in June with the jobless rate ticking up to 4.3 per cent. The resilience of the labour market is a major reason the majority of Federal Reserve members say they can afford to wait on cutting rates until they can gauge the true impact of tariffs on inflation, so a weak report would stoke speculation of a rate cut in July rather than September. "While initial jobless claims retreated somewhat from their recent high, continuing claims jumped higher yet again," noted Michael Feroli, head of US economics at JPMorgan. "Consumers' assessment of labour market conditions also deteriorated in the latest confidence report." "Both of these developments suggest that the unemployment rate in June should tick up to 4.3 per cent, with a significant risk of reaching 4.4 per cent." The latter outcome would likely see futures push up the chance of a July easing from the current 18 per cent and price in more than the present 63 basis points of cuts for this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have an opportunity to repeat his cautious outlook when he joins several other central bank chiefs at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra on Tuesday. The prospect of an eventual policy easing has helped Treasuries weather worries about the US budget deficit and the huge amount of borrowing it entails. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were steady at 3.27 per cent, having fallen 9 basis points last week. The dollar has not fared so well, in part due to concerns tariffs and chaotic policies from the White House will drag on economic growth and erode the country's claim to exceptionalism. The euro was near its highest since September 2021 at $1.1731, having climbed 1.7 per cent last week, while sterling stood near a similar peak at $1.3719. The dollar was down a fraction at 144.48 yen, after losing one per cent last week, while the dollar index dipped to 97.163. James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, noted the dollar had fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," he added. "So, we suspect that this could be a pivotal period for the greenback - either it turns around here or there is another five per cent or so fall around the corner." In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment has undermined gold, which slipped to $US3,266 ($A4,999) an ounce and further away from April's record top of $US3,500 ($A5,357). Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12 per cent slide last week. Brent dropped a further 55 cents to $US67.22 ($A102.88) a barrel, while US crude eased 68 cents to $US64.84 ($A99.24) per barrel.
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Australian shares edge higher at end of financial year
The Australian share market is up slightly - and set to round out the 2025 financial year with a respectable double-digit gain. Just before noon AEST on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 18.5 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 7,532.7, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 18.6 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,762.2. With a few hours of trading left in 2024/25, the ASX200 was up 10.1 per cent since July 1, 2024 - or just under 14 per cent on a gross return basis, including dividends. The ASX200 was also up 1.18 per cent for the month, 8.81 per cent for the June quarter and 4.6 per cent so far in 2025. Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said while not everything went the bull's way last week, the momentum and trends seen in risk markets portrayed an almost nirvana environment in which to operate. The S&P500 printed its fourth all-time high on Friday as did the Nasdaq 100 amid a rapid reduction to geopolitical risk premiums, talk of 10 imminent trade deals with the United States and a dovish tilt by various Federal Reserve officials. At midday, eight of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher, with energy and materials lower and consumer staples flat. The consumer discretionary and technology sectors were the biggest winners, both rising 0.9 per cent. JB Hi-Fi had climbed 1.9 per cent to an all-time high of $110.66, Guzman Y Gomez was up 2.9 per cent to $28.285 and data centre operator Nextdc had added 2.7 per cent to $14.575. The big four banks were mixed, with Westpac up 0.6 per cent and NAB adding 0.8 per cent, while ANZ was flat and CBA had edged 0.1 per cent lower. The material sector was down 1.2 per cent after a strong performance on Friday, with BHP dropping 2.3 per cent, Fortescue declining 1.9 per cent and Rio Tinto dipping 2.2 per cent. The Star was up 1.7 per cent despite its Hong Kong joint venture partners threatening to walk away from a deal to purchase Star's half-stake in Brisbane's Wharf casino and hotel complex. The Australian dollar was buying 65.35 US cents, from 65.50 US cents on Friday.
