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

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Monday, August 4, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

At 7am AEST on Monday, ASX futures were down 0.4%, pointing to a wobbly start to the week for Aussie investors.

Here’s what went down on Friday…..

Wall Street bruised as jobs crack

The Dow sank 1.2% (that’s more than 500 points), the S&P 500 dropped 1.6%, and the Nasdaq copped it worst, down 2.2%.

All three benchmarks booked weekly losses of more than 2%.

The market meltdown boiled down to two words: Trump and jobs. The July US jobs report landed on Friday with all the grace of a dropped pie.

The US economy added just 73,000 jobs, well below the 104,000 expected. The US unemployment rate also nudged up to 4.2%.

“This was a dud,” said Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House.

That’s bad news for workers and worse news for President Trump, who responded by calling for the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to be sacked.

Meanwhile Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta are now expected to splash out US$364 billion in 2025 on capital expenditure, mostly AI-related.

That’s up from $325 billion previously.

For tech investors, it’s a reminder that this game is being played at galactic scale.

You’re either on the rocket, or watching it streak past.

Trump lights a bonfire

Trump accused BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer of “faking the Jobs Numbers” to help Kamala Harris, and said he’d directed his team to fire her “IMMEDIATELY.”

He also signed off on a sweeping package of tariffs targeting nearly every US trading partner, from India to Taiwan, and even the good ol’ Canadians.

Canada’s getting slapped with a 35% rate from this Friday. Most other countries are staring down between 15% and 40%, kicking in August 7.

This all adds another layer of headache for investors.

Gold shines

When the world feels uncertain, gold does what gold does, it glows.

Gold surged 2% to around US$3,363 an ounce on Friday, and up 30% year-to-date as jittery investors looked for safety.

The precious metal’s rally is also being fuelled by expectations that the Fed might have to cut rates in September.

If the economy is losing steam and inflation is still hanging around, gold’s the shiny middle finger to the madness.

Aussie investors should keep an eye on local gold stocks today.

This week’s agenda

Closer to home, the Aussie calendar has a few meaty releases.

On Monday, we’ll get the Melbourne Institute’s monthly inflation gauge.

Then on Tuesday, it’s ANZ-Indeed job ads and the household spending indicator, which the CBA reckons will show a 1% lift for June, up from 0.9% in May.

That’s the figure traders now use to proxy retail activity, so it will be worth watching for any signs Aussie consumers are loosening the purse strings again.

And earnings season continues. On deck this week: News Corp, REA Group, Nick Scali, AMP, and QBE Insurance.

Plenty of headlines incoming and perhaps….. a few investor surprises.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

The Federal Reserve did exactly what markets expected midweek: it held rates steady. No surprises, no fireworks. But investors looking only at the surface risk missing what really matters, writes Nigel Green.

Brazil’s new rare earths tariff will come into play next week, and despite a tariff turn around on Chinese imports, US president Trump is reportedly considering Myanmar as a potential supplier.

While a global hydrogen economy has yet to materialise, there is still a great deal of potential in the sector to fuel the excitement of these ASX companies.

Eating disorders are among the deadliest psychological disorders a person can be diagnosed with, but there are no approved medical interventions for them – yet.

Trading halts

Akora Resources (ASX:AKO) – cap raise
Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR) – project acquisition and cap raise
Ballymore Resources (ASX:BMR) – cap raise
Infini Resources (ASX:I88) – cap raise
Macro Metals (ASX:M4M) – cap raise
Nutritional Growth Solutions (ASX:NGS) – cap raise
Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) – cap raise
Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) – cap raise
Variscan Mines (ASX:VAR) – cap raise

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