Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to rise, S&P 500 and Nasdaq gain as Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs
ASX 200 futures are up 16 pts (+0.17%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
In this article
ASX 200 futures are up 16 pts (+0.17%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
In a nutshell:
Major US benchmarks finished higher and closed near best levels
US Supreme Court ruled Trump's tariffs illegal, though no progress on issuing refunds
At the same time, Trump said he will boost the global 10% tariff to 15%, effective immediately
US-Iran tensions continue to simmer, Trump mulls possible strike, potential meeting between the two states to take place on Friday
Another busy results day, with notable reporters including Austal, McMillan Shakespeare, Reece and a handful of gold miners
Let's dive in.
Overnight Summary
Name | Value | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
Major Indices | ||
 S&P 500 | 6,910 | +0.69% |
Dow Jones | 49,626 | +0.47% |
NASDAQ Comp | 22,886 | +0.90% |
Russell 2000 | 2,664 | -0.05% |
Country Indices | ||
 Canada | 33,818 | +0.66% |
 China | 4,082 | -1.26% |
 Germany | 25,261 | +0.87% |
 Hong Kong | 26,413 | -1.10% |
 India | 82,815 | +0.38% |
 Japan | 56,826 | -1.12% |
 United Kingdom | 10,687 | +0.56% |
Name | Value | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
Commodities (USD) | ||
 Gold | 5,109.17 | +2.23% |
 Copper | 5.839 | +1.75% |
 WTI Oil | 66.48 | +0.12% |
Currency | ||
 AUD/USD | 0.7079 | -0.06% |
Cryptocurrency | ||
 Bitcoin (USD) | 67,428 | -1.20% |
 Ethereum (AUD) | 2,742 | -1.65% |
Miscellaneous | ||
US 10 Yr T-bond | 4.086 | +0.27% |
VIX | 19.09 | -5.64% |
US Sectors
Sector | % Chg |
|---|---|
| Communication Services | +2.65% |
| Consumer Discretionary | +1.27% |
| Real Estate | +0.79% |
| Financials | +0.64% |
| Information Technology | +0.58% |
| Utilities | +0.45% |
Sector | % Chg |
|---|---|
| Industrials | +0.45% |
| Materials | +0.26% |
| Consumer Staples | +0.10% |
| Health Care | -0.32% |
| Energy | -0.71% |
S&P 500 SESSION CHART
S&P 500 higher, closed at best levels (Source: TradingView)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Major US benchmarks higher and closed near best levels
Big tech mostly higher, with notable gains from Alphabet (+3.7%), Amazon (+2.5%) and Meta (+1.6%)
Volatile end to the week, with Supreme Court ruling Trump tariffs illegal, potential military strikes on Iran, softer-than-expected US GDP data, flareup in private credit and staples selloff after a big six-week win streak
US weekly recap: Nasdaq (+1.51%), S&P 500 (+1.07%), Russell 2000 (+0.65%%), Dow (+0.25%)
S&P 500 equal-weight index surges ahead amid shift from megacap tech dominance (WSJ)
Investors increasingly favouring to heavy assets like factories, fast-food restaurants and commodity companies with seemingly strongest odds of surviving AI (WSJ)
S&P 500 trading in a narrow range but single-stock volatility stands at ~7x that of the broader market (BBG)
Single-stock dispersion at extreme levels, with more than 20% of S&P components up or down more than 20% this year (FT)
Flows into European equities have reached a record high (FT)
Foreign purchases of Japanese stocks highest since Nov-2014 following Takaichi's landslide election win (NK)
STOCKS
Nvidia close to $30bn OpenAI investment vs. prior $100bn commitment (FT)
OpenAI says it is targeting ~$600bn in total compute spend by 2030 vs ~$1.4tn in previously announced infrastructure commitments (CNBC)
Nvidia earnings coming this week, but stock has been rangebound amid AI anxieties and rotation away from big tech (BBG)
Blue Owl Capital sales sparks broad private-credit sector selloff (WSJ)
Newmont exceeds Q4 profit forecasts on gold surge, announces $1.4bn asset development (RT)
Live Nation posts record 2025 revenue amid robust concert demand, ongoing antitrust scrutiny (BBC)
Opendoor shares climb on accelerating home purchases despite wider Q4 loss (INVST)
TARIFFS
Trump’s global tariffs struck down by US supreme court in 6-3 opinion ruling, though does not address the issue of potential refunds (BBG)
Trump boosts new tariff rate to 15% a day after announcing 10% (BBG)
CENTRAL BANKS
Fed's Daly says policy in good place, assesses AI economic effects (WSJ)
GEOPOLITICS
Possible US strike on Iran given large volume of military assets building up in the region (WP)
US ready to meet Iran in Geneva this Friday if Tehran submits a detailed nuclear proposal in 48 hours (AX)
Trump insiders say no unified support within administration for Iran strike, urge against distractions away from domestic issues (RT)
Iran conducts military drills with Russia amid US nuclear deal deadline and tensions (TH)
ECONOMY
US Q4 GDP up 1.4% vs. consensus for a 1.9% increase, growth mostly driven by increase in consumer spending and investment, partially offset by declines in government spending and exports (BBG)
Fed's preferred inflation gauge seen accelerating in December, heightening rate cut caution (WSJ)
Eurozone February Flash PMI beats, signaling potential manufacturing turnaround (BBG)
UK PMI records 22-month high amid upturn in new work (RT)
Japan core CPI steady, headline inflation falls to lowest since Mar-2022 amid energy distortion (BBG)
Industry ETFs
Name | Value | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
Commodities | ||
| Silver | 76.62 | +7.90% |
| Copper Miners | 89.09 | +3.45% |
| Gold Miners | 106.26 | +1.94% |
| Steel | 99.22 | +0.85% |
| Uranium | 54.36 | +0.82% |
| Lithium & Battery Tech | 73.12 | -0.01% |
| Strategic Metals | 89.0 | -1.21% |
Industrials | ||
| Construction | 110.5 | +1.43% |
| Global Jets | 29.47 | +1.27% |
| Agriculture | 26.03 | +0.50% |
| Aerospace & Defense | 243.65 | +0.07% |
Healthcare | ||
| Biotechnology | 174.39 | -0.37% |
Name | Value | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
Cryptocurrency | ||
| Bitcoin | 9.36 | +0.97% |
Renewables | ||
| Solar | 59.77 | +2.14% |
| Hydrogen | 38.7 | +1.55% |
| CleanTech | 60.3028 | +1.13% |
Technology | ||
| E-commerce | 29.115 | +1.38% |
| Semiconductor | 359.43 | +1.01% |
| Robotics & AI | 39.02 | +0.98% |
| Electric Vehicles | 32.5373 | +0.36% |
| Sports Betting/Gaming | 17.9033 | -0.04% |
| FinTech | 23.81 | -0.13% |
| Video Games/eSports | 92.92 | -0.46% |
| Cloud Computing | 18.93 | -2.02% |
| Cybersecurity | 25.57 | -4.94% |
ASX TODAY
Another busy day for corporate earnings, though mostly small-to-mid caps. To manage the chaos of results, we're moving the usual coverage from here to the Live Blog.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
Commodities higher: Commodities broadly higher overnight, notable moves for Silver (+7.7%), Palladium (+5.1%), Platinum (+3.6%), Gold (+2.1%), Copper (+1.8%) and Aluminium (+1.2%). While most commodities are still trading 5-15% below late-Jan highs, they've all bounced off recent lows to hit 2-3 week highs overnight.
BROKER MOVES
Guzman Y Gomez upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform; target lowered to $19 from $21 (RBC)
Guzman Y Gomez upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target lowered to $21 from $24 (UBS)
Perseus Mining upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target up to $7.15 from $7.10 (UBS)
Ramelius Resources upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target remains $5.20 (UBS)
Key Events
Stocks trading ex-dividend:
Mon 23 Feb: Ansell Ltd (ANN) – $0.375, Hansen Technologies Ltd (HSN) – $0.05, Magellan Financial Group Ltd (MFG) – $0.395, Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Ltd (MEC) – $0.01, Santos (STO) – $0.146, Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN) – $0.17, Vicinity Centres (VCX) – $0.062
Tue 24 Feb: AGL Energy (AGL) – $0.24, Amcor Plc (AMC) – $0.93, Beach Energy (BGA) – $0.07, Challenger (CGF) – $0.155, Deterra Royalties (DRR) – $0.124, MA Financial Group (MAF) – $0.14, Sports Entertainment Group (SEG) – $0.04, Ventia Services (VNT) – $0.125, Wesfarmers (WES) – $1.02
Wed 25 Feb: Australian Finance Group (AFG) – $0.047, Codan (CDA) – $0.195, FSA Group (FSA) – $0.035, Hearts and Minds Investments (HM1) – $0.095, Maxiparts (MXI) – $0.042, Ooh!Media (OML) – $0.04, Telstra Group (TLS) – $0.105, The Lottery Corporation (TLC) – $0.08
Thu 26 Feb: 360 Capital Mortgage REIT (TCF) – $0.05, Ignite (IGN) – $0.03, IPH (IPH) – $0.19, JB Hi-Fi (JBH) – $2.10, Medibank Private (MPL) – $0.083, Mitchell Services (MSV) – $0.04, Pro Medicus (PME) – $0.32, Shape Australia Corporation (SHA) – $0.14, Universal Store Holdings (UNI) – $0.26, Whitehaven Coal (WHC) – $0.04
Fri 27 Feb: AMP (AMP) – $0.02, Australian United Investment Company (AUI) – $0.17, Carlton Investments (CIN) – $0.47, Fiducian Group (FID) – $0.255, Orora (ORA) – $0.05, Pengana International Equities (PIA) – $0.014, Prime Financial Group (PFG) – $0.008
Other ASX corporate actions today:
Dividends paid: None
Earnings: Austal (ASB), Bellevue Gold (BGL), Imdex (IMD), IPD Group (IPG), Kogan.com (KGN), Lendlease Group (LLC), Liberty Financial Group (LFG), Lindsay Australia (LAU), Mayfield Group Holdings (MYG), Mayne Pharma Group (MYX), McMillan Shakespeare (MMS), Monash IVF Group (MVF), Navigator Global Investments (NGI), NIB Holdings (NHF), Nickel Industries (NIC), Nuix (NXL), Perenti (PRN), Reece (REH), Regis Healthcare (REG), Resolute Mining (RSG), Stanmore Resources (SMR), Star Entertainment Group (SGR), Supply Network (SNL), Vysarn (VYS), Westgold Resources (WGX), Xref (XF1)
IPOs: None
AGMs: None
Economic calendar (AEDT):
No major economic announcements.
