ASX to slide on opening; Wall Street mixed
Futures are pointing to a slight 14 point fall in the S&P/ASX 200 of 0.16 per cent on opening and the Australian dollar, propelled higher against the US dollar immediately after the Reserve's decision, was up 0.52 per cent to US65.25¢ at 5.45am AEDT.
Stock indexes in the US were mixed in afternoon trading Tuesday, coming off a broad sell-off following the Trump administration's decision to impose new import tariffs set to go into effect next month on more than a dozen nations.
The S&P 500 was up 0.1 per cent a day after posting its biggest drop since June. The benchmark index remains near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 116 points, or 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2 per cent higher.
On Monday, President Donald Trump set a 25 per cent tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea and new tariff rates on a dozen other nations scheduled to go into effect on August 1.
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Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs.
Just before hefty US tariffs on goods imported from nearly every country around the globe were to take effect in April, Trump postponed the levies for 90 days in hopes that foreign governments would be more willing to strike new trade deals. That 90-day negotiating period was set to expire before Wednesday.
With the tariffs set to kick in now on August 1, the latest move by the White House amounts to essentially a four-week extension of its previous 90-day pause, wrote Tobin Marcus, an analyst at Wolfe Research.
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News.com.au
33 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Opposition homes in on productivity after shock RBA rates hold
The opposition is homing in on productivity after the Reserve Bank of Australia chief cited it as a concern in her post-rates hold remarks. In a move that shocked financial traders and economists, the bank decided to hold the official cash rate at 3.85 per cent on Tuesday. The decision was not unanimous, with three monetary board members voting against a hold. Speaking afterward, RBA Governor Michele Bullock said she was not ready to say inflation had been 'nailed', noting underlying inflation had only been within the bank's target range for a quarter. She said one of the board's concerns was wages growth outstripping productivity – how efficiently labour can produce goods and services. Shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien said on Wednesday the Albanese government needed to 'put productivity as a priority so you see more growth in the private sector' rather than fuel the public sector growth. 'I think the priority of government has not been productivity,' Mr O'Brien told the ABC. 'And therefore, I welcome the fact that the government is now starting to look at it, and I've taken the treasurer at his word that he's actually going to take action.' Jim Chalmers has invited his opposition counterpart to take part in a productivity roundtable. Mr O'Brien said he was looking for options to 'drive three things'. 'One, incentives – incentives for the private sector, for businesses, for entrepreneurship, to basically have more investment, both domestically and internationally, coming into Australia,' he said. 'Secondly, capabilities – we need to ensure that we've got measures that grow, not just human capital, but also technology and broader investments so that we can build our sovereign capability in Australia. 'And, thirdly, flexibility – we've got to make sure that we are a nimble, agile economy.' Mr O'Brien said the 'only idea that is being brought forward' was the Labor's plan to rollback concessions on ultra-high super balances. But the Treasurer has taken a different view, insisting the Albanese government has been focused on productivity. 'Productivity is one of the big structural challenges in our economy,' Mr Chalmers said, also speaking to the ABC. 'It hasn't just shown up in the last couple of years – it's been a feature of our economy, unfortunately, for the last couple of decades. 'And so we did spend a big chunk of the first term working to make our economy more productive.' Pointing to competition policy and investments in upskilling, he said the government had 'had a big productivity agenda' but noted it was 'not one of those areas where you see quick wins'. 'We have got a big agenda, and the productivity roundtable is all about working out the next steps in that regard,' Mr Chalmers said. He added that 'it should be a source of considerable pride to Australians' that the country has managed to reel in inflation' and get it into the lower end of the RBA's target range. 'That's a good thing, as the Reserve Bank Governor acknowledged yesterday as well,' he said.

News.com.au
41 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Screw over': Truth about Donald Trump's plan to impose crippling 200 per cent tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals
US President Donald Trump's plan to drop a 200 per cent tariff bomb on Australian pharmaceuticals is set to 'screw over' the sickest and most vulnerable in the United States suffering rare and life-threatening conditions including burns patients. As the Albanese Government scrambles to secure more information about the US government's latest plans, Australian officials are sounding the alarm given that pharmaceutical exports are worth over $2 billion a year. All plasma products collected in Australia stay here and are not exported to the US. Instead, the export issue relates to vaccines and blood products collected overseas and sent to Australia for processing before being returned to the US. President Donald Trump has threatened to introduce 200 per cent tariffs on pharmaceuticals – one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Speaking to the media before a cabinet meeting, the President suggested the 'very, very high' levies on pharmaceuticals would not go into effect immediately, saying he would give drug manufacturers 'about a year, year and a half' to respond and relocate their operations to the US. 'They're going to be tariffs at a very high rate, like 200 per cent,' Mr Trump told reporters. 'We'll give them a certain period of time to get their act together,' he added, seemingly referring to drug manufacturers bringing back manufacturing into the US. Australia is subject to a 10 per cent 'baseline' tariff, which was the minimum rate imposed on all US trading partners by Mr Trump earlier this year. Australia's plasma exports to the US One of the biggest sections of the market includes blood products such as plasma products including exports linked to CSL Plasma which collects blood plasma in the United States. In 2023, Australia exported $1.42 billion of vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures, making it the 20th largest exporter of 208 in the world. Blood collection is a commercial operation in the United States, with plasma donors typically paid for their blood. CSL Plasma operates one of the world's largest and most sophisticated plasma collection networks, with nearly 350 plasma collection centers in the US and elsewhere. The blood products are mostly processed in the US but some are sent back to Australia to manufacture therapies for a variety of rare and life-threatening conditions. These conditions include primary immunodeficiencies, bleeding disorders like hemophilia, neurological disorders, and critical care needs like those arising from trauma or burns. One Australian official predicted that demand for the products would continue but the tariffs would 'screw over' patients relying on the notorious US healthcare system. Vulnerable patients will be hit with cost increases because the tariffs are paid by importers, not Australian exporters. CSL has a factory in Melbourne Biotech giant CSL has a plasma fractionation facility in Broadmeadows in Melbourne. The impact of the threatened tariffs relates to the commercial arm of CSL. which uses US blood products which are sourced in America and then processed in Australia before being sent back. 'Plasma manufacturing is a really fragile supply chain because it starts in a human vein,'' an industry source said. 'It's not a tap that you can turn on or off. You need people to vote with their feet to go into a facility that is enabled to collect plasma, and the demand for plasma products is growing globally each year.' 'Tariffs on pharmaceuticals impact the end user.' Treasurer Jim Chalmers 'very concerned' The Treasurer said on Wednesday that Washington's latest announcement was 'very concerning'. 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Perth Now
43 minutes ago
- Perth Now
One thing Aussies no longer do
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