‘Bombs’ hit the ASX amid quiet session on Monday

The Australian ASX200 has seesawed as markets await major economic updates, including just what Donald Trump will do next on tariffs.

The Australian share market had “a couple of bombs” amid a relatively quiet Monday session, as investors await US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up just 5.70 points or 0.07 per cent to 7936.90, while the broader All Ordinaries dipped 0.80 points or 0.01 per cent to 8157.90.

The Aussie dollar was buying US62.86 cents.

There were small gains and losses throughout the day with three of 11 sectors finishing in the red.

The market was pushed into the green by the interest rate-sensitive sectors – consumer discretionary and financial – after labour force data was revealed last week, revealing a fall in the number of jobs.

“More and more people are becoming convinced that we’ve got another RBA cut coming in May,” IG Australia market analyst Mr Sycamore said.

A rally in US banks also contributed to the local sector gaining.

The Australian sharemarket await US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and the Federal Budget. Picture: NewsWire / Jim WATSON / POOL / AFP

“The US banking stocks have been up for about the last six sessions and that’s starting to bring some friends or dip buyers into the ASX/200 listed banks after being friendless for the better part of the month,” Mr Sycamore said.

“If US equity futures hadn’t rallied today we probably would have been looking at a pretty solid negative session.”

But with US President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ and its reciprocal tariffs looming, the US and local markets have both benefited from a “more targeted and potentially a more measured approach” than was perhaps feared, Mr Sycamore said.

“We’ve seen a pretty solid day for the big banks – they’ve been the biggest component of the ASX/200 … and the consumer discretionary sectors. They are liking the idea of another RBA cut.”

The heavyweight conglomerate Wesfarmers was up 1.68 per cent to $72.03 while Aristocrat Leisure rose 1.80 per cent to $66.89 and JB Hi-Fi lifted 0.40 per cent to $91.97.

The Big Four banks buoyed the bourse. Commonwealth Bank rose 1.39 per cent to $147.63, Westpac advanced 1.72 per cent to $31.27, NAB surged 2.20 per cent to $33.91 and ANZ gained 0.78 per cent to $29.53.

The consumer discretionary and financial sectors tipped the local market into green by the closing bell. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

While the federal budget will be announced on Tuesday, it typically isn’t a market mover in Australia.

“That’s because the spending initiatives are already announced, so there’s a lot of leaks in the lead up to the budget … but certainly the monthly CPI indicator number which comes out on Wednesday has probably got the market’s attention in the short term,” Mr Sycamore said.

As the market seesawed, there were “a couple of bombs coming out … a bit of stock-specific news which has weighed on the market.”

James Hardie tumbled 14.53 per cent to $40 following its announcement of a $14b merger with US manufacturing company AZEK.

Lenders mortgage insurer Helia also plummeted 25.6 per cent to $3.61 following an announcement of their contact with Commonwealth Bank at the end of the year.

Mining stocks featured heavily as winners on the S&P/ASX 200 – Mineral Resources surged 6.90 per cent to $24.33, Fortescue added 3.23 per cent to $16.30 and Gold Road Resources added 2.94 per cent to $2.45.

Originally published as ‘Bombs’ hit the ASX amid quiet session on Monday