Wall St closed higher on the first trading session of the holiday shortened trading week as investors welcome the delay in tariffs on the EU announced on Monday. The Dow Jones rose 1.78%, the S&P500 climbed 2.05% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 2.47%. Tesla shares rose 7% on Tuesday after Elon Musk said he is shifting his focus away from politics and back into his companies, while AMC’s shares soared 22% after a record-breaking domestic box official over the Memorial Day long weekend that saw $326m spent at the movies over the highest holiday weekend ever.

In Europe overnight markets closed mostly higher in the wake of tariff delays on the EU region. The STOXX 600 rose 0.33%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.83% to close at a fresh record high, the French CAC fell 0.02% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.7%.

Across the Asia region on Tuesday, markets closed mixed as investors continue to assess the global trade climate following Trump’s delay to the EU tariffs until July. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.51%, South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.27%, China’s CSI index lost 0.54% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the day up 0.43%.

The local market started the week flat before rising on Tuesday as tech and the big banks buoyed the local index to a 0.56% rise at the closing bell yesterday.

Capstone Copper (ASX:CSC) led the ASX200 gains yesterday with a rise of 6.72% amid the rising price of the commodity on the back of Ivanhoe halting production at Africa’s largest copper mine due to seismic activity, pressuring supply side in a time where demand is escalating.

Floods in the Northern NSW Hunter region have already hit IAG (ASX:IAG) with the insurance provider announcing yesterday it has received around 2500 claims related to the flooding. Earlier this month, IAG said its net natural perils claims were estimated to be approximately $900m to the end of April, which is around $250m lower than the year-to-date expectation. Shares in IAG rose 0.7% yesterday.

Telstra shares rose yesterday after the telco giant reaffirmed FY25 guidance, expecting to hit the top end of free cash flow and capex targets, and launched its “Connected Future 30” strategy aiming for over 50% NPAT growth, stronger AI integration, and mid-single digit cash earnings CAGR by FY30.

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 1.05% lower at US$60.88/barrel, gold is down 1.36% at US$3301/ounce and iron ore is down 0.08% at US$99.81/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has weakened against the greenback to buy 64.48 US cents, 93.03 Japanese Yen, 48.06 British Pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 8 cents.
• Ahead of the midweek trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day up 0.60% tracking Wall Street’s rally on Tuesday.
• We have the all-important monthly CPI reading out today locally with markets expecting the annual inflation rate to fall to 2.2% for the 12-months to April.

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained a buy rating on Propel Funeral Partners (ASX:PFP) and have slight lowered the 12-month price target on the leading full-service funeral providers following an update including guidance that has a midpoint of around 8% miss to consensus expectations amid lower seasonality uplift in April and May. The company is well funded and has strong pricing power hence the buy rating, the downgrade in price target is simply due to the company navigating some short-term volatility.
• And Bell Potter has increased the 12-month price target on Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) from $112.50 to $122.50 and maintain a buy rating on the leading logistics software provider following the recent acquisition announcement of e2open and a delay in the launch of Container Transport Optimisation to 1HFY26.

Wall St was closed on Monday for the Memorial Day public holiday.

In Europe on Monday, markets closed higher as investors welcomed the delay of U.S. tariffs on the region until July. The STOXX 600 rose 1%, Germany’s DAX added 1.6%, the French CAC climbed 1.2%, and, in the UK, the FTSE100 was closed for a public holiday.

Across the Asia markets to start the week, markets closed mixed as investors digested Trump’s latest tariff move on the EU. South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 2% to its highest level since 2024, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.35%, China’s CSI index lost 0.6% and Japan’s Nikkei ended the day up 1%.

Locally on Monday, the ASX200 closed flat as investor sentiment was once again dampened by Trump’s tariff turbulence.

The Trump rollercoaster took another loop again from Saturday to Monday. In the space of 2 days the US president announced and postponed new 50% tariffs on Europe, like he has done in recent times with China and other regions. While the step may be to prompt negotiation talks, the on-again-off-again tariffs reignited investor uncertainty on Monday which has prompted global market selloffs both late last week and locally to start the new weeks on a sour note.

Uranium miners extended their rally from Friday following Trump’s move to sign an executive order to ease the regulatory process for new nuclear reactors and enhance supply chains in attempt to ease dependence on China and Russia for uranium supplies and production. For companies like Boss Energy that has an interest in a South Texan mine, demand for Aussie uranium producers is set to rise following Trump’s latest move, which boosts the growth outlook for such stocks in the eye of investors. Boss Energy rose 7.29% on Monday while Deep Yellow soared 13.65% to start the week on a strong note.

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning oil is trading 0.02% lower at US$61.52/barrel, gold is down 0.5% at US$3341/ounce and iron ore is down 0.08% at US$99.81/ounce.
• The Aussie dollar has weakened slightly against the greenback to buy 64.91 US cents, 92.68 Japanese Yen, 47.99 British pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 8 cents.
• Ahead of Tuesday’s session on the ASX, the SPI futures are anticipating the local market will open the new trading day up 0.32%.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has initiated coverage of Region Group (ASX:RGN) with a buy rating and a 12-month price target of $2.65. The internally managed REIT and largest owner of Australian supermarket-based shopping centres has strong near-term income growth potential, underpinned by its liquidity and resilient income streams according to the analyst.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Woolworths (ASX:WOW) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 8-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $31.89 to the range of $29.60 to $30.10 according to standard principles of technical analysis.

Wall Street re-entered sell off mode on Friday after President Trump threatened tariffs on the EU, which on Saturday turned to reality with a 50% tariff announced on the region set to come into effect from June 1. The Dow Jones lost 0.61% on Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.67% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 1%.

Apple shares fell 3% on Friday after Trump posted on Trump social that iPhones sold in the US must be made in the US and if they are not, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple.

In Europe on Friday, markets closed lower amid threats of U.S. tariffs and on the back of corporate earnings results being released in the region. The STOXX600 fell 1%, Germany’s DAX and the French CAC each lost 1.6%, and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day down 0.2%.

Across the Asia region on Friday, markets closed mixed as investors digested a slew of economic data released in the region. Japan’s Nikkei rose almost half a percent, South Korea’s Kospi index closed flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s CSI index also each closed flat. Japan’s core inflation rose to 3.5% in April boosted by surging rice prices and the BoJ pausing the assess tariff implications. Singapore’s inflation for the same period came in at 0.7%, slightly higher than markets were expecting.

Locally to end the last trading week, the ASX200 posted a second weekly gain as a pullback in bond yields and the outlook for further rate cuts out of the RBA boosted investor sentiment. On Friday, the ASX200 ended the session up 0.15% driven by a rally for tech and energy stocks.

Uranium stocks surged on Friday on reports Trump will sign an executive order to ease the regulatory process for new nuclear reactors and enhance supply chains in attempt to ease dependence on China and Russia for uranium supplies and production. Boss Energy rose 12.82%, Paladin Energy climbed 7.02%, and Deep Yellow ended the day up 9.13%.

What to watch today

• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.54% higher at US$61.53/barrel, gold is up 1.76% at US$3358/ounce and iron ore is down 0.08% at US$99.81/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback to buy 64.91 U.S. cents, 92.47 Japanese Yen, 47.97 British Pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 8 cents.
• Ahead of Monday’s trading session in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down 0.36%.

Trading ideas

• Bell Potter has slightly lowered the 12-month price target on Duratec (ASX:DUR) from $1.95 to $1.80 and maintain a buy rating on the leading Australian infrastructure contractor following the company’s release of a trading update outlining FY25 revenue guidance and EBITDA lower than previously expected attributed to delays in project awards and weather disruptions.
• Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on APA Group (ASX:APA) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 32-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $8.13 to the range of $7.55 to $7.65 according to standard principles of technical analysis.