The local share market has slipped from near-record levels as copper prices plunge following a surprise US tariff decision.
At noon on Thursday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 22.8 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 8,733.6, while the broader All Ordinaries had fallen 25.5 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,990.2.
Eight of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower at midday and just three were higher, but the heavyweight mining sector had fallen 2.3 per cent, dragging down the market.
Copper prices suffered their biggest one-day loss ever, falling by 20 per cent after the Trump administration said a 50 per cent copper tariff that comes into effect on Friday would only apply to semi-finished products such as copper pipes and wires, and not the sheets of refined copper known as cathode.
Traders had bet the tariffs would apply to all refined copper products, creating a race to ship cathode into the US and build huge stockpiles, sending the US price of the red metal significantly higher than global benchmarks.
As that trade unwound on Thursday, BHP fell 2.3 per cent and Rio Tinto dropped 2.7 per cent while one of the ASX’s biggest copper-focused miners, Sandfire Resources, fell 3.5 per cent.
Non-copper miners were also deep in the red, with goldminer Evolution falling 3.6 per cent, lithium miner Pilbara retreating 6.2 per cent and Nickel Industries dropping 2.3 per cent.
The tariff news overshadowed a number of other items affecting Australian traders’ sentiment, including the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates on hold, better-than-expected domestic retail sales for June and solid earnings from Meta and Microsoft.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Cettire was also reeling from US tariffs after President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking a duty-free exception for low-value imports into the US.
Shares in the luxury clothing dropshipper plunged 19.1 per cent per cent to a six-month low of 27.5 cents as Cettire said such imports, with a value below $US800, represented about 40 per cent of its revenue in recent months.
Elsewhere in the sector, Flight Centre had fallen close to its lowest level since the pandemic, dropping 8.5 per cent to $11.79, after the online travel agency said it would not meet its already-downgraded profit guidance.
The June quarter had been extremely challenging for its leisure business as tourists stayed away from the US and fighting in the Middle East kept travellers close to home, Flight Centre said.
In the financial sector, the big four banks were higher, with CBA up 0.2 per cent, Westpac and NAB adding 0.5 per cent and ANZ rising 0.3 per cent.
The Australian dollar was buying 64.51 US cents, from 65.12 US cents on Wednesday’s ASX close.
Source: AAP
