ASX marches higher on latest Trump tariff development

Australia’s sharemarket continued its rally higher on Friday as traders factored in a more reserved Donald Trump on US tariffs.

The Australian sharemarket trimmed its early day gains, but still closed at a fresh record high on Friday, as markets traded on hope Australia could be spared from the worst of the Trump tariffs.

The benchmark ASX 200 index gained 15.80 points or 0.19 per cent to finish the week at a fresh highest of 8555.80 points.

The broader All Ordinaries also rose, up 20.90 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 8825.10 points.

Australia’s dollar firmed and was trading late on Friday around US63.17c.

ASX closes on a new record high on Friday on suggestions Australia could be spared the worst of the Trump tariffs. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Eight of the 11 sectors finished in the green, led by strong gains out of consumer staples, utilities and technology stocks.

Helping to drive the consumer staples section higher were the two major supermarkets, with Woolworths gaining 1.75 per cent to finish at $30.79 while Coles Group grew 1.28 per cent to $19.71.

It was also a good day for Treasury Wine Estate, reversing Thursday’s falls by gaining 3.04 per cent to finish at $10.83. Retail drinks network and pub owner Endeavour group rose 4 per cent to $4.42.

Part of the narrative for Friday’s market was Australia’s response to the current steel and aluminium tariffs suggested by President Donald Trump’s administration.

While Mr Trump initially announced a blanket 25 per cent tariffs on all imports, the White House is reportedly conducting a review into trade imposed on the US and if it should be done on a country by country basis.

Capital Economics senior ANZ economist Abhijit Surya said Australia imposes far lower tariffs and value-added taxes on American goods than other major economies, meaning we could be spared from the worst of a trade tariff.

“Australia could even end up being one of the ‘winners’ of the US’s trade war if Mr Trump follows through on his pledge to institute reciprocal tariffs on all of the US’s trading partners,” he said.

“US exports to Australia face a weighted average tariff rate of just 0.2 per cent, well below the average 6.7 per cent most-favoured nation tariff rate charged by America’s top 15 trading partners.

In total eight of the 11 sectors finished in the green. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Capital.com senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said the market was holding onto hope that a full-on trade war could be avoided.

“While clearly the risks remain elevated of a tit-for-tat dynamic, with tariffs and the uncertainty they evoke a drag on growth, the fact this is a slow burn approach from Trump with the chance many of the tariffs will be extinguished is supporting market sentiment,” he said.

BlueScope Steel continues to march higher, as part of its operations are in the US, gaining another 1.64 per cent to $22.35 on Friday.

Earnings results released by AMP and Cochlear saw shares in the two major companies tumble during Friday’s trading.

AMP dropped 14.83 per cent to $1.49 after reporting a 43 per cent reduction in statutory net profit after tax from $265m to $150m.

Cochlear also fell to its lowest levels since December 2023, down 13.79 per cent to $262.73 after missing consensus on revenue, net profits and interim dividend.

Clarity Pharmaceuticals was also heavily traded, sinking 9.01 per cent to $3.30.

In positive news, Sigma Healthcare continued its surge higher after a reverse takeover by Chemist Warehouse, with shares rising 7.21 per cent to $3.12 to be the best performing share on the ASX.