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

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

At 7am AEST, ASX futures were up by 0.7%, pointing to a strong start to Tuesday’s trade.

Here’s what went down while we were sleeping.

Wall Street jumps higher

Overnight, the Dow nudged up 0.2%, the S&P inched 0.1% higher, and the Nasdaq tiptoed to a 0.3% gain, enough to chalk up another record close.

After tossing out a fresh volley of tariff threats over the weekend – 30% duties on EU and Mexico from August 1 – Trump softened slightly, saying he’s “open to talk, including to Europe.”

“The letters are the deals. The deals are made. There are no deals to make,” he said. You try making sense of that.

Investors, to their credit, didn’t flinch much.

“The stock market’s muted reaction to the latest volley of tariff headlines suggests investors may be growing numb to them,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade.

Meanwhile, Big Tech kept doing the heavy lifting.

Meta added 0.5% after Zuckerberg revealed plans to build mega data centres to power his AI dreams. “Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute,” Zuck promised.

Tesla also edged up 1%, with Musk confirming shareholders will get to vote on investing in his AI baby, xAI.

It’s peak Muskonomy – companies investing in other companies run by Musk, to help Musk, under the direction of Musk.

Meanwhile, Fed boss Jerome Powell, under fire for a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, has now formally asked the inspector general to review the cost.

Critics say it’s over the top. Trump says it’s cause for dismissal.

Trump’s 100% whack for Russia

After the EU and Mexico, Trump has now turned his sights to Russia, threatening “very severe tariffs” of up to 100% unless Moscow agrees to a ceasefire within 50 days.

“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs… about 100%. You’d call them secondary tariffs,” he said.

The idea is to hit countries like India and China that are still buying Russian oil. It’s like tariffing the mates of the bloke you’re angry at.

Oil traders hated the news. WTI fell more than 2% as investors try to work out whether Trump is bluffing or bargaining.

‘Crypto Week’ kicks off in Washington

Bitcoin briefly blasted through US$123,000 before sliding back to $120k.

The US has just kicked off “Crypto Week’, where the House debates three big crypto bills including the GENIUS Act.

If passed, GENIUS would force all stablecoins to be backed one-to-one with cash or equivalents, mandate monthly audits, and split regulatory oversight depending on size.

Elizabeth Warren called the legislation “another industry handout,” and warned it could “open a back door to destroy” long-standing securities laws.

Eyes on US inflation

All eyes now shift to the US.

Tonight at 10:30pm AEST, the US drops its June CPI. Consensus says 0.3% monthly and 2.9% annual core inflation, hot enough to keep the Fed awake.

“Tariffs will eventually feed through pushing prints higher and creating some discomfort for the Fed,” said Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

With soaring prices, the time could not be more right to get a gold mine into production. These ASX companies are doing just that.

The Lachlan Fold Belt is one of the most prospective in the world. Modern discoveries are drawing fresh capital to explore it.

Health Check: Imugene (ASX:IMU) goes to the well after reporting more blood cancer ‘cures’.

TRADING HALTS

Babylon Pump & Power (ASX:BPP) – potential acquisition and debt funding
Dalaroo Metals (ASX:DAL) – cap raise
Imugene (ASX:IMU) – cap raise
Saunders International (ASX:SND) – acquisition and equity raise
Scalare Partners Holdings (ASX:SCP) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Albion Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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