Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.5% to 8,009.00
  • Dow Average down 0.3% to 42,454.04
  • Aussie down 0.2% to 0.6291 per US$
  • US 10-year yield rose 3.3bps to 4.3461%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield rose 4.6 bps to 3.80%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield rose 5.3 bps to 4.48%
  • Gold spot little changed at $3,018.01
  • Brent futures up 1.1% to $73.82/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$2 Billion 77-Day Bills
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 133-Day Bills
  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$100M 0.75% 2027 Inflation-Linked Bonds

Three days of relative peace were broken on Wall Street, with big tech driving major stock benchmarks lower, as concern about a trade war’s impact on the economy and inflation resurfaced to squelch risk appetites.

In late hours, a $589 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the S&P 500 (SPY) dropped as President Donald Trump signed an order to implement a 25% tariff on auto imports, expanding a trade war designed to bring more manufacturing jobs to the US and setting the stage for an even broader push on levies next week. American automakers General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. fell.

The move comes ahead of an announcement of so-called reciprocal tariffs expected April 2 — a bid to drive down other countries’ barriers and shrink US trade deficits. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem said it’s not clear any inflationary impact from tariffs will prove temporary, and cautioned that secondary effects could prompt officials to hold rates steady for longer.

“Uncertainty on the tariff front remains ridiculously high, leaving it incredibly tough for businesses or consumers to plan more than about a day into the future, and still making it nigh-on impossible for market participants to price risk,” said Michael Brown, a strategist at Pepperstone.

Equities slipped on Wednesday, led by losses in the group of “Magnificent Seven” megacaps — whose quarterly rout is set to be the worst since 2022. Nvidia Corp. and Tesla Inc. dropped at least 5.5%. Microsoft Corp. has walked away from new data center projects in the US and Europe, said TD Cowen analysts. A gauge of big banks snapped a streak of eight straight days of gains.

The S&P 500 slid 1.1%, failing to stay above its key 200-day moving average. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3%. A Bloomberg gauge of megacaps sank 3%. The Russell 2000 slipped 1%.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.35%. The dollar gained 0.3%.