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Wall Street slipped into the red again on Tuesday with the S&P500 fighting to stay out of correction territory as it trades 8.6% below its recent record, as investors remain concerned over the impacts Trump’s tariffs will have on the US economy. The Dow Jones lost 0.62%, the S&P500 shed 1.07% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 1.71%. Tesla shares have been hit hard lately and took a further 5% tumble on Tuesday after RBC Capital Markets lowered its price target on the EV company citing rising competition in the EV space.

Over in Europe on Tuesday, markets in the region closed higher as investors assessed momentum in Germany’s historic debt reform deal, which unlocks a major stimulus package for higher defence, infrastructure and climate fund spending. The STOXX 600 rose 0.61%, Germany’s DAX added 1.03%, the French CAC gained 0.5% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.29%.

Across the APAC region overnight Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied again to a three-year high yesterday, ending the day up 2.29% as investors continue piling into tech stocks listed on the index following fresh stimulus and strong economic data out in the region. China’s CSI index rose 0.27%, Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2% and South Korea’s Kospi Index ended the day up 0.06%.

Locally, the ASX started the week higher before pulling back yesterday as the local market is taking strong lead from Wall Street movements amid global uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs and subsequent implications of taxes imposed on good being imported into the US.

Rising geopolitical tensions in the form of Israel launching a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday propelled the price of gold to another fresh record high as investors flock into the safe-haven asset in times of great uncertainty.

Defensive stocks in the utilities, consumer staples and healthcare sectors all outperformed yesterday, for a similar reason to gold’s rally, as investors look for investments that are mostly unaffected by a downturn in the economy.

On that note, Woolworths shares jumped over 1% yesterday after Macquarie upgraded the supermarket to an outperform rating, while former Woolworths alcohol arm, Endeavour slipped 1.6% yesterday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the alcohol retailer to neutral.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the midweek trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down 0.66% tracking Wall Street’s turbulence overnight.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.94% lower at US$66.95/barrel, gold is up 1.10% to a fresh record US$3032.60/ounce, and iron ore is down 0.52% at US$102.32/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has further strengthened against the greenback overnight to buy US$0.63, 94.99 Japanese Yen, 49.15 British Pence and 1 NZ$1.09 cents.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has decreased the 12-month price target on REA Group (ASX:REA) from $281 to $264 and maintain a buy rating on the leading online real estate listings platform following the release of February property data including a national listings declining 8% YoY for the month. REA also guided to ‘flat-to-marginal’ increase in FY25 listings amid a slow housing market in Australia at present.