Company Interview / the open: ASX to rise, US-China in focus

The local market looks set to begin the week slightly higher with ASX futures up 0.1%, amidst anticipation of a meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping surrounding worsening trade tensions between the US and China. 

Wall Street’s main indexes fluctuated on Friday, as President Trump accused China of violating a tariff agreement. The Dow rose 3.9% for the month, which was its biggest monthly rise since January. The S&P 500 advanced around 6.2%, along with the Nasdaq rallying around 9.6%, with both having its biggest monthly gains since November 2023. 

Over the weekend President Trump revealed plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50%, increasing global steel producers. However, the most notable latest barrage in Trump’s global trade war came after he accused China of violating an agreement with the US to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals. 

The US dollar was mixed on Friday but on track for the first monthly gain against Japanese Yen, whilst the Australian dollar dipped slightly, trading at US64.4c. 

In terms of commodities, copper prices were little changed, whilst iron ore was down slightly at around $96 a tonne. Gold prices slipped on Friday, however, it has since recovered to be up 0.55% at $3305 an ounce. 

Today the home values index from Cotality will be revealed, as well as the Melbourne institute inflation gauge for May and job advertisements from ANZ.