Morning Bell 7 April

Wall St was smashed again on Friday as investors fled equities amid concerns over Trump’s latest tariff implications on the US economy. The Dow Jones tumbled 5.5%, the S&P500 lost 5.97% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 5.8%. China’s commerce ministry said on Friday that it will impose a 34% levy on all US products without negotiation with President Trump, while tech and other stocks with exposure to China also tumbled as investors brace for impact on such company’s sales, financials and growth outlook.

In Europe on Friday, markets in the region closed sharply lower as investors digested Trump’s liberation day tariffs and after China retaliated with tariffs on the US. The STOXX 600 fell 5%, Germany’s DAX fell 4.7%, the French CAC lost 4.3% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day down just shy of 5%.

Across the Asia region to end the week, markets closed lower as the global tariff sell-off extended into the region. China’s CSI index fell 0.59%, Japan’s Nikkei tumbled over 4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.52% and South Korea’s Kospi Index ended the day down 0.76%.

The local market tumbled 2.4% on Friday erasing 57b$ from the ASX200 after global markets reacted to Trump’s liberation day tariff handouts that were larger and broader than expected.

Our market followed the US free-fall on Thursday that saw the Nasdaq tumble 6%, the S&P 500 drop 4.84% and the Dow Jones decline 4%.

Stocks with exposure to the US market were heavily sold off as investors fled exposure to cost hikes faced by such companies under the new 10% blanket tariff on all Aussie exports bound for the US.

In the wake of global uncertainty, investors are increasingly dumping growth stocks in favour of supermarkets given their defensive nature, lack of exposure to the US and guaranteed earnings no matter the time of economic cycle.

Breville Group has been hit hard by the US tariff imposition with the company falling over 11% on Friday and over 6% on Thursday as the company manufactures in China and attributes a large portion of revenues to the US market. Breville has already started moving production out of China, however, will need to assess pricing and strategize to overcome the tariff implications.

Growth stocks associated with the AI revolution were also heavily sold off on Friday with NextDC falling over 6% while geolocation tracking app with a high presence in the US, Life 360, fell over 8%.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of Monday’s trading session to start the new trading week, the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down 4.3% tracking the global sell-off on Friday.
• On the commodities front this morning it is a sea of red across the commodities space with oil down 3.14% at US$60/barrel, gold is down 0.57% at US$3020/ounce and iron ore is down 1.5% at US$102.64/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has weakened against the greenback over the weekend to buy US$60.02, 87.07 Japanese Yen, 46.77 British Pence and NZ$1.08.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has downgraded the rating on Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) from a buy to a hold and have lowered the 12-month price target on the gold producer from $2 to $1.30 per share after Q3 production missed guidance by 30%.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Generation Development Group (ASX:GDG) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 53-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $4.36 to the range of $3.40 to $3.70 according to standard principles of technical analysis.