Top 10 at 11: ASX opens lower after Trump ramps up tariff rhetoric once again

The Australian market opened lower on Monday morning, influenced by Trump’s tariff hikes and ongoing trade tensions with China.

The ASX has fallen marginally in early trade, weighed down by renewed tariff concerns. Pic: Getty Images

Morning, and welcome to Stockhead’s Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading.

With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10:15, once trading kicks off in earnest.

In brief, this is what the markets have been up to this morning.

May marks solid month of growth

May was a month of recovery for global markets, which gained steadily over the past 31 days to make up much of the damage done by sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in April.

While the Nasdaq and the S&P500 both fell marginally in trade on Friday night, the indices marked their best month of trade since 2023, adding 9.6% and 6.2% respectively.

The Bluechip Dow Jones added 0.1% on Friday and 3.9% through the month.

Over in Europe, annual German inflation data showed a 0.1% fall to 2.1% in May, just a hair off the Central Bank’s 2% target.

That brings an interest rate cut for the Eurozone into focus, with analysts confident inflation is now under control.

“Unlike in the US where, largely thanks to tariff threats, resurging inflation is a serious likelihood, in Europe, central banks feel they have a decent grip on it,” Morningstar chief European equity market strategist Michael Field said.

The FTSE300 lifted 3.9% and the FTSE100 3.3% in May, having added 0.2% and 0.6% on Friday respectively.

Trump doubles steel tariff

Just when we thought all the tariff back and forth was settling down, Trump has decided to double US tariffs on steel imports, drawing criticism from the EU.

“We strongly regret the announced increase of US tariffs on steel imports from 25% to 50%,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News.

“This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The EU certainly doesn’t look likely to roll over and take the new import tax – the trade bloc has already signalled its intention to impose countermeasures.

The new tariff hike will go into effect on June 4, unless Trump backs down again.

The EU says its countermeasures will come into effect on July 14 if no “mutually acceptable solution is reached”.

Australia imported about US$608 million in iron, steel and aluminium to the US in 2023, just 0.6% of our total exports.

The tariffs are unlikely to have much of an effect on the overall steel industry here at home, as most of our iron, steel and aluminium is exported to Chinese markets.

ASX dips in early trade

The ASX has opened lower despite Futures pointing to a marginal lift in trade, down 0.06% as of about 10:30 am AEST.

The Materials sector is pushing higher (+0.31%), supported by a 0.58% uplift in the ASX All Ords Gold index.

Six of 11 sectors are in the red this morning, led down by Consumer Discretionary with a 0.74% dip.

Both the ASX 200 Banks (-0.49%) and All Tech (-0.40%) indices are also dragging this morning, creating headwinds for the rest of the market.

Apart from the new steel tariff, Trump has also accused China of breaking May’s trade truce.

On Friday he told reporters he would be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping to reach a new understanding.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said China had repeatedly raised concerns with the US regarding its abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector.

“China once again urges the US to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva,” Liu said.

The US Department of Commerce says it’s reviewing strategic exports and considering suspending existing export licences or imposing additional requirements.

Here’s hoping they figure it out sooner rather than later.

WINNERS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.16	65%	48659518	$277,247,109
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.0015	50%	5000	$1,733,666
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.003	50%	100000	$9,213,164
CRI	Criticalim	0.0175	35%	19464337	$34,949,832
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.004	33%	3023998	$7,278,057
LKY	Locksleyresources	0.1025	28%	10331313	$11,733,333
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.075	25%	845333	$22,801,679
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.0025	25%	82121	$3,133,896
DXN	DXN Limited	0.045	25%	301977	$10,753,331
ERA	Energy Resources	0.0025	25%	642295	$810,792,482

In the news...

Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) has mapped out new felsite dykes near historical pits at the Colosseum gold and rare earth element project in California, in the form of gold-bearing breccia pipes.

The company says it’s identified the breccia pipe’s distinct geophysical signature, which can be used to detect similar gold mineral formations beneath the surface of the project.

Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) has locked-in option agreements to acquire interests in two US-based gold projects. FTL is looking to secure up to 80% of the Excelsior Springs project and 100% of the Bella project, which have produced results of up to 51.8m at 4 g/t gold and 12.2m at 46.62 g/t gold respectively.

DXN (ASX:DXN) has inked a $4.6m contract to deliver three prefabricated modular data centre units for Globalstar Inc.

The company says the detail demonstrates DXN’s growing relevance in the global satellite and aerospace infrastructure sector, reflecting the technical strength of its offering.

LAGGARDS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.002	-33%	450000	$8,299,608
HLX	Helix Resources	0.002	-33%	2998297	$10,092,581
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.004	-20%	154409	$7,963,906
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.0025	-17%	116288	$8,461,275
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.011	-15%	1665790	$7,380,853
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.003	-14%	125000	$7,251,976
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.006	-14%	2026105	$19,660,775
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.007	-13%	88842	$3,233,365
GSM	Golden State Mining	0.007	-13%	150000	$2,234,965
REZ	Resourc & En Grp Ltd	0.014	-13%	50005	$10,746,226

In the news…

Investors were unimpressed with Great Western Exploration’s (ASX:GTE)niobium drilling results from the Yerrida North project in WA. The company’s 15-hole program found nothing of particular interest, leading GTE to rule the Sumo target out for further exploration.

Great Western will turn its attention to the Oval and Oval South copper-gold targets instead, planning a gravity survey for mid-to-late June.

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

Originally published as Top 10 at 11: ASX opens lower after Trump ramps up tariff rhetoric once again