Markets were left with a murky picture after the US Supreme Court cut Trump’s emergency tariffs, prompting him to replace it with a 10% global levy before increasing it to 15%, with no clarity on timing or scope.“Trump headlines equal volatility. While the Supreme Court ruling was priced in by the market, it now opens the door for Trump to start throwing out numbers for tariff levels on the fly.” Mark Gardener, CEO of MPC Markets, said.
Nevertheless, underlying support from earnings and still-solid business fundamentals should limit negative impacts, he added.
“We view this pullback as an opportunity to buy as we should return to record highs once the dust settles.”
Strong corporate earnings had pushed the index to a record high last week, with the benchmark up 2.4% since Feb. 11, when reporting season began. Back on the benchmark, financial stocks fell 1.2%, while the “big four” banks fell between 0.6% and 2.3%.
CSL, which gets most of its revenue from the United States, fell 3.8%, sending the health index down 2.4%.
Technology stocks fell 4.6%, while consumer discretionary and real estate stocks lost 1.8% and 2.3%, respectively.
Bucking the gloomy trend, miners rose 1.7% to reach a one-week high, while sector giant BHP Group added 1.3%.
Gold stocks rose 4.1% as increased volatility fueled interest in safe-haven precious metals.
Mining and gold stocks rose on safe-haven demand, extending a months-long rotation from expensive tech and healthcare names into commodities, Mark added.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.8% to 13,420.43 points.
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