Over in the US so far on Tuesday, Wall Street closed mixed as Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled concerns over the direction of the US economy amid US tariffs and the possibility of a global trade war. The Dow Jones climbed 0.1% while the S&P500 and Nasdaq dropped 0.2% and 0.6% respectively.

In Europe overnight, markets closed higher as investors digested the latest Trump tariff announcements and The European Union plans to retaliate against the US for new steel and aluminium tariffs. The STOXX 600 rose 0.23%, Germany’s DAX added 0.56%, the French CAC gained 0.28% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.11%.

Across the APAC region on Tuesday, markets closed mixed as investors continued digesting the impacts and flow on effects of Trump’s latest tariffs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.06%, and China’s CSI index fell 0.46%, while South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 0.71% and Japan’s markets were closed for a holiday.

The local market started the new trading week lower on Monday before a choppy session that led to a flat close on Tuesday as a sharp sell-off in healthcare stocks weighed on the local index.

Trump tariffs continue to dampen investor sentiment and fuel investor and central bank demand for gold stocks, bullion and exposure in portfolios given the safe-haven nature of the precious commodity at a time where economic and market certainty is unclear.

CSL’s results for the first half out yesterday weighed on the local market and healthcare sector as the healthcare giant fell nearly 5% yesterday despite beating expectations for 2 of the company’s 3 divisions. The company’s Behring business, which manufactures plasma products and provides collection services in the US, Australia, Europe and more, reported a strong first half with revenue up 10% and gross margin of 51.1% which beat expectations by 20bps. Investors likely sold out of the company amid warnings of FX headwinds to come in H2 and after the Seqirus division posted a 9% decline in revenue on the PCP.

Gold miners rocketed again yesterday as the price of the precious commodity jumped over US$2900/ounce for the first time amid increased demand out of central banks and from investors due to the haven nature of the commodity in a time of great uncertainty.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the midweek trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day up 0.02%.
• The Aussie dollar has further strengthened against the greenback to buy US$0.62, 95.87 Japanese Yen, 50.70 British Pence and 1 NZ$1.11 cents.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 1.21% higher at US$73.19/barrel, gold is down 0.38% at US$2906/ounce and iron ore is up 0.56% at US$106.97/tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained a buy rating on CSL (ASX:CSL) but have lowered the 12-month price target from $345 to $335 following the release of the company’s first half results showing revenue rose 5% but fell 1% short of BPe and NPATA rose 3% but was 4% below BPe. The analyst maintains a buy rating as the Behring division continues its strong growth outlook and positive margin recovery despite the Seqirus division facing headwinds of declining vaccine demand in the US.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on QBE Insurance Group (ASX:QBE) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 7-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $20.43 to the range of $21.90 to $22.20 according to standard principles of technical analysis.