Wall Street up again amid trade deal optimism and rallying chipmaker stocks. Despite recent tensions, Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to talk this week. S&P 500 up 0.58%, NASDAQ up 0.81%. Dow fell at open but rose steadily throughout the day. Ended near high, up 214 points. Mainly positive sector performance. REITS and Staples showed a little weakness, all other sectors were up. Energy once again the best performer, as global refining margins hit a 14-month high in May. Materials and Industrials also did well.

Tech had another positive session as chipmakers rallied. Nvidia up 2.8%, Broadcom rose 3.3%. Benefited from news stories focusing on coding startups use of AI and their high valuations, adding further fuel to the AI hype train. Alphabet only one of Mag7 materially down, shedding 1.7% as anti-trust cases weighed on it.

US job openings increased in April and layoffs posted biggest rise in nine months. Indicative of a weakening labour market. Yields fell on news, boosting Financials and Utilities. Resources were mixed. Dollar strengthening hurt some. Oil rose on continued tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the US and Iran. Conflicts which suggest supply may remain tight. Some base metals like Copper and Zinc recorded modest gains while Tin was up nearly 3%.

ASX to rise. SPI futures up 24 points (+0.28%).

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ASX 200 up 53 points to 8647 (0.6%). A solid rally driven by bullion and banks. The Big Bank Basket rallied to $278.81 (+1.2%). CBA up another 1.3%, with ANZ doing well up 1.3%. MQG rose 0.9% and IFL up 2.7% on a broker upgrade, Insurers better, SUN was out and up 2.4% with IAG doing well, rising 2.9%. REITs rallied too, GMG up 1.1% and CHC rising 3.1%. Industrials in demand across the board, JBH up 1.9% with WOW and COL better, TLS continuing to push ahead up 1.0% with QAN up another 2.0%. Healthcare mixed, SIG up 2.3% and CSL off 1.0%. Tech stocks rose, with the All-Tech Index up 0.3%. In resources, iron ore stocks drifted lower as iron ore fell on Chinese PMI. Gold miners off highs, but still strong, NEM up 4.3% with GMD gaining 4.6% and OBM up 5.9%. Lithium stocks falling again, PLS down 0.4% and MIN hit 5.5%. Oil and gas stocks rose with crude, uranium still under pressure again. DYL down 1.9% and PDN off 1.3%. In corporate news, IEL fell 48.1% on a massive downgrade and nasty outlook statement, TEA ran 8.6% on a special dividend, DMP fell 2.2% after a raft of executive changes. In economic news, the RBA minutes helped sentiment, Chinese PMI dropped to 48.3. Asian markets slightly higher, Japan up 0.1%, HK up 1.1% and China up 0.5%. 10-year yields steady at 4.26%.

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Wall Street recorded a positive, choppy session despite a backdrop of rising trade tensions between the US and China and important economic data releases such as US employment data and an ECB rate decision where it’s expected to cut. S&P 500 up 0.41%, NASDAQ up 0.67%. Dow fell at open but found strength throughout the day to end up 35 points, near high. Mainly positive sector performance. Industrials and Staples showed a little weakness but all other sectors were up. Energy best performer, followed oil up which rose after Canadian wildfires threaten supply. Materials and Utilities also did well, as did Tech. All major Tech companies were up excluding Alphabet and Tesla. Alphabet (-1.6%) will spend $500m over ten years to overhaul compliance in a shareholder settlement which highlighted internal issues. Tesla (-1.1%) continued to see EU sales plummet in May. Meta and Nvidia led the gains for Tech. Meta (+3.6%) boosted by news it will help advertisers to fully create and target campaigns using AI by the year end. Meta news took Nvidia (+1.7%) with it, another further positive update on AI developments. Resources nearly all up. US Copper jumped as Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium is feared to potentially extend to copper. Iron ore sole loser. China’s manufacturing activity contracted in May for second consecutive month.

ASX to rise. SPI futures up 68 points (+0.81%).

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ASX 200 fell 21 points in quiet trade to 8415 (0.1%). Most sectors showing losses as nerves crept back in on Trump and Chinese negotiations. Banks slipped with WBC off 1.2% and the Big Bank Basket down to $275.32 (-0.1%). MQG fell 1.0% with insurers better, QBE up 1.3% and MPL rising 2.1%. REITs slid, GMD down 0.9% and VCX off 0.4%. Industrials were mostly flat, WOW and COL better, WES up 0.5% and SGH doing well, up 0.7% with BXB rallying 1.0%. TLS continued to push higher, tech was mixed as WTC fell 2.3% and XRO rose 1.5% with the All-Tech Index down 0.5%. Healthcare under a little pressure, SIG off 3.2% following the sell-down last week.

In resources, iron ore down in Singapore, BHP off 1.2% and FMG sliding 2.5%. Lithium stocks under pressure following the UBS downgrade last week, MIN off 11.8% and PLS falling 8.1%. Gold miners were better as bullion pushed higher on steel tariff issues, EVN up 3.1% and NEM up 1.2%. Oil and gas stocks eased slightly and uranium stocks fell. In corporate news, SOL announced a merger with BKW to create a new $15bn top 50 stock. Both stocks rallied hard on the news, a $500m zero discount capital raising also helped sentiment. BSL jumped 4.4% on US tariff moves, APE extended the buyback, JHX rose 1.4% on securing a new debt facility. Nothing on the economic front locally, China and US ratchet up war of words. Asian markets fell, Japan down 1.3%, HK off 1.9% and China down 0.5%. 10-year yields steady at 4.26%.

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Wall Street recorded a mixed session after recovering from midday lows as it weighed Trump’s critical comments of China which were also optimistic about a trade deal. S&P 500 flat, up 1.88% for the week. NASDAQ down 0.32%, up 2.01% for the week. Dow was flat until midday where it dropped but it recovered by the end of the session. Up 54 points, near high, up 667 points for the week. Mixed sector performance. Defensives did well for the second consecutive day. Utilities up as yields eased. Non-Cyclicals and Healthcare also did well. Energy followed oil lower. Growth sectors like Cyclicals and Tech continued to show weakness, shedding a few of the week’s gains.

• Gold down 0.8%, back below $3300. US dollar up 0.2%. Bitcoin down 1.3%.
• European markets modestly up in muted session. STOXX 600 up 0.1%, FTSE up 0.6%. Asian markets all down. Japan down 0.4%, HK down 1.2%.
• Bond yields fell as risk sentiment worsened following Trump’s China comments. US 10Y down 2.8bps, US 2Y down 3.9bps.

ASX SPI up 8 - SOL/BKW merger - Quiet start to week.

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The ASX 200 had a late surge to finish the month with a gain today of 25 points to 8435. ASX records best month since January. Up 3.8%. Banks yet again showed the strength as CBA rose 0.9% with the Big Bank Basket up to $275.55 (1.1%). WBC surged 2.7% and NAB up 1.3% with some month end window dressing. Insurers slid slightly, QBE down 1.3% with REITS up. GMG up 1.3% and VCX rising 1.2%. Industrials found a footing, BXB up 1.0%, WOW and COL firmed, and ORG up 2.1%. Tech slipped slightly with WTC down 1.5% and XRO off 0.8%. Healthcare mixed, In resources, mixed in the majors, BHP up 0.3% and FMG down 1.9%. Gold miners were better, NST up 3.2% with GMD up 4.4%, VAU up 3.5% as some window dressing helped. Lithium stocks slid on a broker downgrade to carbonate prices, PLS down 5.7% and IGO off 5.4%. WDS fell 2.1% and STO off 0.9%. Uranium stock eased back, coal miners fell, WHC off 1.8%. In corporate news, HCW leapt on rent relief for Healthscope, NWH up on a RIO contract and FND down nearly 9% on results. In economic news, retail sales slipped. Asian markets fell with Japan down 0.9%, China down 0.3%, and HK down 1.5%. 10-year yields at 4.28%.

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Wall Street recorded a positive session following Nvidia’s strong after-market results Wednesday. Markets had a lot to digest as a US trade court challenged Trump’s ability to impose tariffs, a move later overruled for the time being by the appeals court. Biggest legal challenge to Trump yet and will escalate. S&P 500 up 0.40%, NASDAQ up 0.39%. Dow rose at open, continually dropped until midday, and found strength to rise and end near high. Up 117 points. All sectors saw green. REITS biggest beneficiaries as yields fell following appeals court reinstatement of tariffs. Financials also benefitted. Energy up despite oil falling. Defensives in general were the best performing sectors. Growth sectors like Cyclicals and Tech, while positive, were the biggest laggards. Nvidia the biggest gainer following earnings, up 3.2%. Despite US curbs on chips to China, positive sentiment from Nvidia boosted other chips. Dell (-0.1%) also raised full year profit forecast on strong AI server demand, adding further fuel to the AI train. Netflix down 2.0% on no major news. Mixed performance from the other large Tech names, either modest gains or losses. Costco (-0.4%) missed earning expectations as consumer discretionary spending fell amidst economic uncertainty. Tariffs will be felt more by companies come Q2 earnings – Gap (-1.0%) flagged as much in their earnings report. Resources struggled. Despite the dollar slipping further, base metals fell. Nickel and tin both down over 2.5% as economic uncertainty once again came to the forefront following the various legal challenges, and then supports, on Trump’s tariff policy.

ASX to fall. SPI futures down 22 points (-0.26%). Gold back up - Oil down. Quiet session in store.

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The ASX 200 limped to a 13-point rise at 8410 (0.2%) missing out on the US fun as the tariffs got knocked back and Nvidia ran on results. Banks were slightly better with NAB and WBC doing ok, CBA unchanged and the Big Bank Basket up to $272.57 (+0.4%). Financials were strong, MQG up 1.7% and XYZ rising 3.0%. REITs fell, GMG down 1.4% and SCG off 1.1%. Industrials firmed, TCL up 0.4%, WES up 0.2% and TLS pushing ahead up 0.8%. Tech was better but not stunning, WTC up 1.2% and the All-Tech Index up 0.6%. Retail better, TPW up 1.9% and BRG rising 0.4%. Resources were weighed down by BHP and RIO, the ugly sisters, LYC fell 2.1% and S32 off 1.0%. Gold miners were mixed, NST down 0.7% and EVN up 0.8% after a rocky start. Bullion fell on trade news, GMD rose 0.9% as broker upgrades came through. WDS kicked 2.8% on broker optimism on NW shelf deal and oil prices kicking up. Uranium back in the doghouse with DYL off 3.2% and PDN down 5.0%. In corporate news, CIA up 0.5% on record results, RSG fell another 2.4% despite seeking further information from Guinea government. ELD up 1.1% as the ACCC voiced concerns on its acquisition of Delta. Nothing on the economic front, Asian market rallied on the US news. 10-year yields steady at 4.37%.

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