Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Monday, May 26, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

The ASX looks set to open under a bit of a cloud on Monday morning, with futures down 0.3% at 7AM AEST.

With Wall Street getting a smack from tariffs and deficit fears, local traders might be in for a cautious day.

Wall Street slides as Trump spooks again

Trump has let rip with another tariff tantrum on Friday, and this one’s packing serious heat.

In a volley of off-script threats, he floated a 50% tariff on all EU imports starting June 1, blaming stalled trade talks. That’s everything from German sedans to French reds, and maybe even Camembert, too.

Then came the sucker punch for smartphones. Trump warned that Apple and Samsung could face a 25% tax unless they start building devices on American soil.

“If they’re going to sell it in America, I want it built in America,” he said, like moving global supply chains was just another box to tick before lunch.

Markets flinched hard.

The Dow fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, and the Nasdaq took a 1% hit, bringing weekly losses for all three majors above 2%.

Apple shares slid 3%, with the rest of the Magnificent Seven tagging along for the tumble.

Europe’s major indices also buckled after his comments, and bond yields got jumpy as the “R” word, recession, crept back into the discussion.

Then as traders were starting to get ready for the long weekend, Trump dropped another curveball, giving the green light to the US Steel-Nippon Steel merger.

That sent US Steel shares rocketing 20% in the last half hour of trade.

Gold shines

While equities sagged, gold did what gold does best, soar when Trump shakes the cage.

The precious metal climbed to over US$3,350 an ounce, not far off all-time highs, as Trump’s tariff bombshells sent investors scrambling for safety.

Even rising US bond yields (normally a headwind for non-yielding gold) couldn’t put out the fire.

Rick Kanda from The Gold Bullion Company reckons this is just the beginning for the gold price, as fears over the ballooning US deficit and Moody’s recent credit downgrade could keep investors twitchy for a while.

And finally…

Back home, the Monthly Aussie CPI print for April lands Wednesday, and it could be a mood-setter. The market’s tipping a small dip in the inflation indicator from 2.4% in March to 2.3%.

It’s not a game-changer on its own, but if the trimmed mean – RBA’s preferred measure – also cools, it could fuel fresh bets around another RBA cut later in the year.

That would give equity markets a bit of a leg up, especially rate-sensitive sectors like real estate and discretionary retail.

On the earnings front, Elders (ASX:ELD) and SmartPay (ASX:SMP) kick off the week with earnings reports today.

Elders will especially be closely watched for its commentary on rural inflation and input costs.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

(prices at 7am AEST)

What got you talking

Also in the news…

Check out why Lion Selection Group’s Hedley Widdup thinks mining’s latest bust is almost over.

Critical Minerals has been all the talk after China resisted export supply, but are ex-China suppliers stepping up to fill the gap?

Trading Halts

American West Metals (ASX:AW1) – cap raise
Barton Gold (ASX:BGD) – cap raise
Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS) – material acquisition
M3 Mining (ASX:M3M) – acquisition and a cap raise
QEM (ASX:QEM) – cap raise
Tambourah Metals (ASX:TMB) – cap raise
Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG) – cap raise

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial