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Wall Street closed mixed on Tuesday as investors assessed the latest comments out of President Trump on the tariff front whereby he said there will be no exceptions to his August 1 tariff start date. The S&P500 lost just 0.07%, the Dow Jones dipped 0.37% and the Nasdaq ended the day up 0.03%.

In Europe overnight, markets in the region closed higher as investors hope trade deals can be done between the US and key European countries in the near future. The STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, and Germany’s DAX, the French CAC and the UK’s FTSE 100 ended the day up 0.5% each.

Across the Asia region on Tuesday, it was positive despite investors assessing President Trumps’ latest tariff threats on 14 key trading partners. Imports from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia among other countries are now set to face tariffs of 25% starting August 1 according to Trump’s latest post on his social platform, Truth Social. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.26% on Tuesday, South Korea’s Kospi Index ended the day up 1.81%, China’s CSI index rose 0.84% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.09%.

The local market closed Tuesday’s session flat as investors were shocked by the RBA’s surprise rate hold announcement whereby Australia’s cash rate will remain at 3.85% for the next period amid global uncertainty on the tariff front and Australia’s tight labour market. RBA governor Michele Bullock said Australia’s central bank is really conscious of not wanting to end up with a fight against inflation again and they want to make sure they have ‘nailed’ inflation before cutting again.

Following the RBA’s shock rate hold on Tuesday afternoon, the ASX dipped but recovered just before the closing bell with staples and utilities stocks taking the biggest hit, while tech and communication services offset some of the losses.

Some broker moves sparked stock reactions yesterday with South32 (ASX:S32) sliding almost 2% after Goldman Sachs cut its outlook on the company to Neutral while Domino’s Pizza (ASX:DMP) rallied over 2% after UBS upgraded the stock to a buy, and Guzman Y Gomez (ASX:GYG) fell 4% after JPMorgan initiated coverage on the stock on Monday with an underweight rating.

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.7% higher at US$68.40/barrel, gold is down 0.92% at US$3306/ounce and iron ore is up 0.35% at US$95.55/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback to buy 65.31 US cents, 95.77 Japanese Yen, 48.12 British pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 9 cents.
• And ahead of the midweek trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down 0.08%.

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter has increased the 12-month price target on Cobram Estate Olives (ASX:CBO) from $1.95 to $2.35 and maintain a hold rating on the olive oil producer following the company’s provision of a FY25 production and earnings guidance update. CBO expects production to come in below BPe but EBITDA expectations of $115m top BPe of $113m.
• Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Lycopodium (ASX:LYL) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 99-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $11.29 to the range of $12.50 to $12.80 according to standard principles of technical analysis.