The All Ordinaries (INDEXASX: XAO)(^AORD) and S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) (^AXJO) ended sharply lower on Friday following Donald Trump’s tough stance on China trade.
All Ordinaries: down 1.9% at 5,929 points
ASX 200: down 2% at 5,820 points
ASX 200 Movers
- Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) – up 1%
- Alumina Limited (ASX: AIA) – up 0.8%
- Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) – up 1%
ASX 200 Losers
- BlueScope Steel Ltd (ASX: BSL) – down 5.9%
- Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) – down 4.3%
- BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) – down 3.1%
Australian Investing News
Making waves on the ASX today was fears that US president Donald Trump has officially sparked a trade war with China. Overnight, US shares closed firmly lower after the US president signed a ‘memo’ instructing his staff to come up with a list of Chinese products that could be targeted with tariffs.
Read: Has Donald Trump Just Started A Trade War?
Although a memo is not law, Trump’s recent decision to impose tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium appears to have rattled investors’ confidence.
According to his statement, Trump also wants tougher restrictions on Chinese organisations trying to buy assets or businesses in the United States.
Today, ASX investors witnessed a selloff in just about every sector, according to Commsec data. However, as shown above, shares in a few of the larger gold mining companies performed well.
All of the major banks fell on the news, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares ending 2.6% lower, according to Yahoo! Finance.
In company-specific news, Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) updated the market on its Mt Cattlin mineral resource, ore reserves and exploration. “Galaxy has significantly improved its geological interpretation of the Mt Cattlin resource,” the company said.
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