Market Wrap / WHAT a week

Market turblence caused by Trump's tariffs saw the local market re-enter correction territory during Friday's trade. The S&P / ASX 200 fell 3.94% over the course of the week, its worst weekly drop since 2022. During Friday's session the index shed 2.44% to close at 7667.80 points. 

Bond markets rallied as traders forecast further and faster cuts amid the economic uncertainty. ANZ and HSBC economists among those bringing forward to May their RBA rate cut expectations.  Stock specifically, CBA fell 1.5%, Macquarie dropped 9% and Life360 fell 9.8% amid the risk-off sentiment. Breville Group suffered one of the biggest drops, sliding 12% after it became evident that Trump’s country-specific tariffs would affect its manufacturing operations. Amotiv plunged 16.7%, even after assuring that the tariffs would have no material impact.

The energy sector dropped a whopping 8% as oil prices slumped on OPEC+’s decision to increase output at an higher-than-anticipated rate. Woodside lost 9.1% as its CEO also told investors it would be too expensive for the company to make deep cuts to its carbon emissions.

Consumer discretionary stocks suffered from fears of global economic growth contraction.

However, investors continued to flock to defensive sectors with consumer staples Coles advancing 4.1%. The gold miners also topped the charts this Friday. 

Elsewhere, BHP was reported to consider separating its iron ore and coal activities from its main listing, as part of a revamp of the company's growth strategy. The world’s largest listed miner was 0.5% lower along with most of the materials space. 

Tonight, US non-farm payrolls is in focus ahead of  local consumer sentiment indexes to be released next week.