Wall St advances on trade hopes amid investor pessimism

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday for their fifth straight day, buoyed by the US-China tariff truce earlier in the week even as economic survey data showed a deterioration in consumer sentiment.
The S&P 500 steadily added to gains from late morning, while investors took weak data in their stride. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its Consumer Sentiment Index slumped further in May while one-year inflation expectations surged to 7.3 per cent from 6.5 per cent in April.
All three main indexes boasted weekly gains after starting out with a steep rally on Monday - after Washington and Beijing agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war. This was days after the US President and British Prime Minister announced a limited bilateral trade agreement.
Lindsey Bell, chief market strategist at Clearnomics, New York, said Friday's advance was a "carry on from the de-escalation in the trade conflict."
With a solid economy combined with pessimistic investors, Bell expects more volatility ahead as tariff headlines come out, and added that "data could change in coming months."
"I don't think we're out of the woods yet. We're going to have to take it on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis," she said.
Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said the market is "cautiously optimistic" about the softening stance on trade, but waiting to see where the US eventually lands on tariffs.
"We haven't even begun to see what happens when those tariffs really bite, when firms have to raise their prices to consumers and consumers see fewer goods and less variety on the shelves," said Christopher.
Investors were also left waiting for clarity on US tax policy as Trump's sweeping tax bill failed to clear a key procedural hurdle as hardline Republicans demanding deeper spending cuts blocked the measure in a rare political setback for the Republican president in Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 331.99 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 42,654.74, the S&P 500 gained 41.45 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 5,958.38 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 98.78 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 19,211.10.
For the week, the S&P 500 gained about 5.3 per cent while the Nasdaq rose 7.2 per cent and the Dow added 3.4 per cent.
Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry indexes, most advanced with energy the sole loser, down 0.18 per cent.
The biggest gainer was healthcare, which ended up 1.96 per cent for the day after a volatile week.
One of its biggest index point boosts was from UnitedHealth Group Inc, which regained ground - rising 6.4 per cent on Friday and leading S&P 500 percentage gains - after eight straight days of steep losses.
Investors were warily expecting strategic changes at the insurer after the Wall Street Journal reported it was under a criminal probe by the Justice Department.
Among other individual stocks, Applied Materials shares slipped 5.3 per cent after the provider of equipment for chip manufacturing missed estimates for second-quarter revenue.
Charter Communications shares rose 1.8 per cent after the cable company said it would buy privately held rival Cox Communications for $US21.9 billion ($A34.1 billion).
Shares in Verizon Communications rose 1.7 per cent after the Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was approving its $US20 billion ($A31 billion) purchase of fibre-optic internet provider Frontier Communications after the largest US telecom company agreed to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 207 new highs and 34 new lows.
On the Nasdaq, 2,792 stocks rose and 1,607 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.74-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 62 new highs and 73 new lows.
On US exchanges, 17.61 billion shares changed hands on Friday compared with the 17.04 billion average from the last 20 sessions.

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ABC News

4 hours ago

• ABC News

The Strait of Hormuz is crucial for global oil supply. What could a blockage from Iran mean for Australian fuel prices?

As the world waits to see if Iran will retaliate against US strikes on its nuclear facilities, concern is growing its next move may send oil and petrol prices soaring around the world. The Iranian parliament has reportedly voted to block the Strait of Hormuz, with a final decision to cut off the crucial choke point for oil shipping now resting with Iran's leaders. Here's how a blockade would impact Australian oil supply and what we could expect to pay at the bowser. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow stretch of water and the world's most important oil transit choke-point. It's the only marine entry way into the Persian Gulf. Iran occupies its northern shore with Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south. At its narrowest point, it is approximately: During the Iran-Iraq conflict between 1980-1988, both countries targeted commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf, but Hormuz was never completely closed. The Strait of Hormuz is crucial for global oil supply. Roughly 20 per cent of the world's oil consumption — 20 million barrels per day — and 25 per cent of global liquefied natural gas trade flows through there every day. Between the start of 2022 and May 2025, somewhere between 17.8 million and 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, data from analytics firm Vortexa shows. Some of the world's most important oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates export all of their oil in tankers through the strait. Speaking with ABC NewsRadio, independent economist Saul Eslake said although Iran's plans for the waterway remained unclear, a disruption could have global ramifications. "If Iran were to block the Strait of Hormuz or indeed make credible threats to block it, it could act as a deterrent if not a formidable obstacle to getting a significant proportion of the world's oil from where it's produced to where it's needed," Mr Eslake said. Iran does not exclusively control the strait. While it borders the northern side and controls some islands within it, the strait is also bordered by Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the southern side. Any attempts to bar passage through the strait would likely be met with a strong response. Ships with the US Fifth Fleet, along with other Western navies, patrol the region at all times. According to Iranian state media, Iran's Supreme National Security Council will make the final decision on whether to close the strait after parliament reportedly approved the measure. We haven't got that outcome yet. Lawmaker and Revolutionary Guard Commander Esmail Kosari told the Young Journalist Club that closing the Strait was on the agenda and "will be done whenever necessary". US Vice-President JD Vance said closing the channel would be economically "suicidal" for the Iranian government. "Their entire economy runs through the Strait of Hormuz. If they want to destroy their own economy and cause disruptions in the world, I think that would be their decision," he told NBC. "But why would they do that? I don't think it makes any sense." Australia imports the equivalent of about 90 per cent of its refined oil needs. This includes finished products such as bowser fuel. According to the NRMA, Australia's biggest sources of refined products are Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Where do they get their oil? Most of them get it mainly from the Middle East. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), 84 per cent of crude oil that moved through the strait in 2024 went to Asian markets. They include China, India, Japan and South Korea. Australia relies on all four of these countries for refined oil (see table above). This is where current geopolitical tensions come into play. A blockage of the Strait of Hormuz could see a spike in oil prices flow directly to the pump, but experts say prices are unlikely to rise in the same manner as it did in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022. Most likely. NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury says there's "absolutely no doubt" that if Iran attempts to close the strait it will have a "significant effect on prices". Since the war started over a week ago, the terminal oil gate price in Australia increased by about 8 cents per litre. Mr Khoury expects this to be gradually passed on to motorists across the country. "What it means for the capital cities that are currently experiencing a fall in petrol prices, is that they won't likely fall as far, or for as long as we thought they would." If the strait is shut down, Mr Eslake wouldn't be surprised if petrol prices surpassed $2.30 per litre. But Mr Khoury and Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association CEO Mark McKenzie agree that prices likely won't rise in the same manner after Russia invaded Ukraine. "The current trading price this morning, $US78 barrel, is still below the oil price this time last year, and well below the price when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in early March 2022 at $US128 barrel," Mr McKenzie said. "In fact, just six weeks ago, much of the media was correctly reporting that global oil prices had fallen to the lowest level in more than four years. "The clear message here is that oil trading markets are learning to cope with the rising level of geopolitical uncertainty which is giving increasing price volatility." Possibly mid-August. But Mr McKenzie says this is only if the oil price climbs sharply. Currently, it's risen by around 10 per cent. "This higher priced oil has to be refined and then shipped to global markets which usually takes around two weeks. "So, in effect, the price impact could be felt from mid-August."

West Australian

4 hours ago

• West Australian

Critica, Ausgold link arms in chase for more WA gold

Rare earths explorer Critica Limited has linked up with rising gold firm Ausgold Limited for an earn-in joint venture, enabling Ausgold to earn up to 70 per cent of Critica's promising Kulin gold project, 230 kilometres east-southeast of Perth. The agreement allows Critica to remain laser-focused on its giant Jupiter rare earths project and provides Ausgold with an excellent opportunity to bore into the potential gold-laden Kulin project. The 106-square-kilometre Kulin project covers the northern extension of the Yandina Thrust, which is known to be a fertile structure and hosts the nearby Griffins Find and Tampia gold mines. Critica's project is adjacent to Ausgold's own Kulin gold project and 75km north of its flagship Katanning gold project. The addition ratchets up Ausgold's existing 816-square-kilometre landholdings in the region and expands the company's exploration efforts within the broader Katanning Greenstone Belt. Critica's Kulin ground has been subjected to previous geochemical sampling, which defined a more than 3km-long coherent gold-in-soil anomaly greater than 10 parts per billion (ppb) gold. Two central 'bullseye' targets grading more than 50ppb were identified, each with a 600-metre strike length. Trenching conducted at the two targets returned significant surface or near-surface gold results of 31m at 1 gram per tonne (g/t), 24m running 0.53g/t and 20m going 0.6g/t. The trenching results and gold-in-soil anomalies are yet to be thoroughly tested with the spinning end of a drill bit across an extensive drilling program. Three diamond holes were ploughed into the ground and returned hits such as 3m at 2.37g/t gold from 341m. Ausgold believes there is significant potential for near-surface gold mineralisation. Additional secondary anomalies greater than 10ppb gold-in-soil south and east have 800m and 2.8km strike lengths, respectively. Under the earn-in and joint venture agreement, Ausgold can earn up to a 70 per cent interest over 3.5 years. It must spend $250,000 within 18 months to earn 51 per cent in stage one, and a further $360,000 across two years in stage two to earn an additional 19 per cent. If Ausgold earns 70 per cent, it will signify completion of the earn-in and Critica will retain a 30 per cent contributing interest. On reaching a decision to mine, Critica can convert its stake into a 1.5 per cent net smelter royalty. Ausgold plans to lodge a program of work early next year and begin a maiden drilling program in the second or third quarter of next year. Drilling will target the high-priority gold-in-soil anomalies and mineralisation unearthed in the trenching program to explore the project's potential for the in-demand precious yellow metal. Gold has maintained its stellar run from last year. The gold price is up almost 28 per cent this calendar year to sit at US$3358 (A$5224) per ounce. Critica remains focused on its massive Brothers rare earths project, which contains the significant Jupiter deposit, west of Mount Magnet in WA's Mid West region. Jupiter has a whopping global resource of 1.8 billion tonnes at 1700 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides, including a higher-grade component of 520mt grading 2200ppm total rare earth oxides. The resource includes a significant stash of valuable magnet rare earth oxides, with a global resource of 682,000t of magnet rare earth oxides and a 260,000t higher-grade parcel. In addition to praseodymium and neodymium, the resource contains higher-valued heavy rare earths terbium and dysprosium. Management says its Brothers-Jupiter project is Australia's biggest and highest-grade clay-hosted rare earths resource. While the rare earths market has seen marginally elevated pricing over the past month after a difficult period, gold has been on a gangbuster run this year. It makes sense for Critica to look at extracting value from the Kulin project while there is positive sentiment for the yellow metal and Ausgold has the funds to do the heavy lifting. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:

News.com.au

4 hours ago

• News.com.au

Lunch Wrap: ASX clobbered by war fears, but rising oil keeps it from falling harder

ASX sinks as war nerves rattle stocks Oil surges as Iran threat fuels energy fears Bitcoin tumbles under US$99k (briefly) in market shakeout The ASX fell rather sharply at Monday lunch time in the east, down by 0.6% as war jitters and a Wall Street wobble triggered a risk-off mood. But it could've been worse. A lift in energy names helped soften the blow as they ride the wave of surging oil prices after military strikes in the Middle East. Over the weekend, the US launched stealth bomber raids on three Iranian nuclear sites. What was a localised war is now looking more like a direct war with the US with serious flow-on effects for oil, global trade, and investor nerves. Oil prices surged 2% over the past few hours. Experts warned that if Iran follows through with threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, where around 20% of the world's oil and gas passes through, we could be staring down an oil crisis that's three times worse than the oil shocks of the late '70s. OPEC usually has spare capacity to step in during shocks, but analysts reckon not this time. The US strategic reserves are also near empty after Ukraine, and there's no white knight ready to ride in. The Aussie dollar slipped by 0.5% to 64.3 US cents, while gold climbed on the safe-haven bid this morning. Meanwhile, Bitcoin fell below $US99,000 at one point, before climbing back to US$101k as of the time of writing. Some analysts have suggested traders have been piling in to BTC with a bit too much confidence, expecting a continued rise. This is where things stood on the ASX at around 12:50pm, AEST: In the large caps space, grocery wholesaler Metcash (ASX:MTS) was up 4% after posting a small drop in full-year profit that still beat expectations. Its food business is doing the heavy lifting, with earnings up 18%. Tobacco sales, though, are getting smoked, down 20% as the black market continues to chew into legitimate trade. ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 23 : Security Description Last % Volume MktCap CT1 Constellation Tech 0.002 100% 1,066,500 $1,474,734 ENT Enterprise Metals 0.003 50% 333,333 $2,362,635 GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.002 50% 308,261 $5,619,759 PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.022 47% 9,036,019 $10,470,019 BDT Birddog 0.067 37% 3,855,173 $7,912,815 ASR Asra Minerals Ltd 0.002 33% 1,000,000 $5,987,547 DTM Dart Mining NL 0.004 33% 900,000 $3,594,167 VFX Visionflex Group Ltd 0.002 33% 339,890 $5,051,791 X2M X2M Connect Limited 0.025 32% 1,175,174 $7,375,455 BEL Bentley Capital Ltd 0.010 25% 20,000 $609,023 CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.005 25% 2,623,094 $8,060,777 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.003 25% 6,681,301 $8,219,762 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.003 25% 4,994,924 $6,011,030 RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 5,625,909 $13,803,566 RLG Roolife Group Ltd 0.005 25% 200,000 $6,371,125 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.005 25% 4,021,527 $21,688,909 SKK Stakk Limited 0.005 25% 464,971 $8,300,319 TEG Triangle Energy Ltd 0.003 25% 24,346,799 $4,178,468 TFL Tasfoods Ltd 0.005 25% 1,402,984 $1,748,382 T92 Terrauraniumlimited 0.033 22% 390,390 $2,751,716 DGR DGR Global Ltd 0.006 20% 213,910 $5,218,480 LOC Locatetechnologies 0.135 17% 4,460,709 $26,293,219 RIM Rimfire Pacific 0.021 17% 2,385,851 $45,322,090 BLU Blue Energy Limited 0.007 17% 1,114,611 $11,105,842 NHE Nobleheliumlimited 0.022 16% 1,187,326 $11,390,975 BirdDog Technology (ASX:BDT) has bumped up its proposed buy-back price by 40% to 7 cents a share, after talking with shareholders about its plan to delist from the ASX. That new offer is more than double what it last traded at before the delisting news dropped in April. It's also rescheduled the shareholder vote, now set for 9am on Tuesday July 22. Aussie IoT company X2M Connect (ASX:X2M) has landed a $3 million deal with the City of Seoul to supply 100,000 smart personal safety devices by the end of 2025. The 'Help Me' keychains connect to Seoul's emergency systems, and send real-time alerts when someone's in trouble. Backed by a new national safety mandate, the project could scale up to a million units, giving X2M a big runway for growth. It also plans to bring similar tech into Australia. SmartPay (ASX:SMP) jumped 10% after confirming a takeover offer from NYSE-listed payments giant Shift4, valuing the Aussie-NZ EFTPOS provider at $274 million. The offer came in at NZ$1.20 per share, a juicy 46% premium to its 90-day average. Directors are backing the deal, which would see Smartpay swallowed into the Shift4 empire. ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 23 : Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 -33% 201,290 $8,461,275 PKO Peako Limited 0.002 -33% 500,000 $4,463,226 SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.002 -33% 160,788 $3,225,642 SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.002 -25% 162,000 $9,673,198 AGE Alligator Energy 0.030 -25% 44,661,967 $154,943,974 BCB Bowen Coal Limited 0.140 -22% 1,671,194 $19,396,360 ORP Orpheus Uranium Ltd 0.022 -21% 10,708 $7,887,520 H2G Greenhy2 Limited 0.015 -21% 2,339,556 $11,365,499 ADH Adairs Limited 2.040 -21% 4,044,065 $455,994,533 AKG Academies Aus Grp 0.100 -20% 216,171 $16,576,808 NME Nex Metals Explorat 0.020 -20% 180,999 $8,352,645 ALM Alma Metals Ltd 0.004 -20% 250,000 $7,931,727 ALR Altairminerals 0.002 -20% 250,000 $10,741,860 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 99,999 $3,474,442 VEN Vintage Energy 0.004 -20% 10,000 $10,434,568 SNX Sierra Nevada Gold 0.021 -19% 794,784 $4,281,137 ORN Orion Minerals Ltd 0.009 -18% 4,169,917 $75,354,926 CAZ Cazaly Resources 0.019 -17% 2,306,319 $10,609,969 AS2 Askarimetalslimited 0.005 -17% 161,500 $2,425,024 EAT Entertainment 0.005 -17% 657,618 $7,852,716 ERL Empire Resources 0.005 -17% 200,000 $8,903,479 ICR Intelicare Holdings 0.005 -17% 781,904 $2,917,129 JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.003 -17% 1,852,944 $18,378,447 TON Triton Min Ltd 0.005 -17% 50,000 $9,410,332 FAL Falconmetalsltd 0.115 -15% 335,790 $23,895,000 Homewares and furniture retailer Adairs (ASX:ADH) tanked 22% after flagging weaker full-year earnings. Promotions may have boosted sales, but they've also crunched margins. The company expects EBIT to come in lower than last year, blaming intense discounting and a weaker Aussie dollar. Its furniture business is struggling the most. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has reported encouraging new rodent preclinical pharmacokinetic (PK) data for its lead candidate NUZ-001, showing it effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) has upgraded resources at its Dulcie Far North project by 41% to 302,000oz of contained gold as part of a broader consolidation of the Dulcie project in WA. Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) has extended mineralisation at the Sunnyside prospect within the Enmore project in NSW, hitting 80.5m at 1.45g/t gold in the sixth hole of drilling. Ausgold (ASX:AUC) has expanded the footprint of its Kulin project in WA after reaching a farm-in agreement to acquire a majority stake in an adjacent exploration licence highly prospective for gold. Development at Hillgrove Resources' (ASX:HGO) Nugent underground mine in South Australia is better than expected, resulting in the early intersection of the orebody and delivering first copper ore for processing. LAST ORDERS Sipa Resources (ASX:SRI) is taking its pick of drilling contractors for the Tunkillia North and Nuckulla Hill gold projects in South Australia after nabbing approvals for a Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation. The PEPR is a requirement before any on-ground activities can begin on the projects – they'll be focused on investigating historical gold mineralisation and testing targets to the north and south of the 1.6Moz Tunkillia gold deposit, held by Barton Gold. Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) is $215,485 richer after bringing in a Research and Development Tax Incentive for the FY2024. The refund is attached to Lumos' ongoing research and development efforts. The company is focused on enhancing its proprietary benchtop and disposable reader technology platform. It supports the detection of a broader range of clinical biomarkers, improves the interpretation of point-of-care test results, and allows for smooth integration with electronic medical records. Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN) has brought seasoned Chartered Accountant Mauro Piccini on board as a non-executive director. He has extensive expertise in ASX reporting, corporate advisory, and financial management with a background in publicly listed governance disciplines in addition to preliminary financial assessment. Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) has capped off a 3,000m drilling program at the Marda Central prospect of the Marda gold project, with assays due shortly. The program was focused on extensions to shallow, high-grade mineralisation at the previously mined open pits at Python and Golden Orb, part of a greater 10,000m campaign planned for 2025.