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In the US on Tuesday, it is a positive day on the first trading session of the holiday-shortened week as investor sentiment is boosted by President Donald Trump taking office. The Dow Jones rose 1.2%, the S&P500 added 0.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 0.7%. Markets took President Trump’s first policy announcements on tariffs as more benign than expected following strong comments prior to his inauguration about the need to enhance domestic reliance and strength over trade with close countries like Mexico and Canada.

In Europe overnight, markets closed higher in the wake of Trump 2.0. The STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, Germany’s DAX added 0.24%, the French CAC climbed 0.48%, and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.33%.

Across the Asia region on Tuesday markets mostly rose as investors await clarity on the impact of Trump’s first policies following his inauguration. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.32%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.91%, China’s CSI index rose just 0.08%, but South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.08%.

The local market closed 0.66% higher yesterday as investors flocked into the financial sector and gold stocks due to their safe-haven nature. The local market took no lead from Wall St yesterday as the NYSE was closed for the Martin Luther King Jnr holiday. However, with Trump now officially in office, we are seeing the first major announcements come through with tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada set to be introduced from Feb 1, while tariffs on China are TBC. Investors locally assessed the first hours and announcements of Trump’s return to office and moved into the safe-haven areas of the market as a result due to the high uncertainty of what the new US President is set to introduce and change over the coming months.

Gold extended its rally on Trump’s tariff plans as investors and global banks rely on the safe-haven nature of the precious commodity for storing value in the currently uncertain market and economic environment especially in the wake of Trump’s tariff talks. The rise in the spot gold price yesterday fueled a rally for local gold producers including Gold Road Resources, Regis Resources and Northern Star Resources.

Wesfarmers shares rallied yesterday after the Australian conglomerate announced it will be closing its Catch business as the loss-making entity failed to keep up with the rapidly growing competitive landscape of online discount retail platforms. Catch’s fulfilment centers will be transferred to Kmart group as demand grows for Kmart’s discount lifestyle offerings especially in the high interest rate environment.

Liontown Resources led the ASX200 gain yesterday with a rise of almost 12% after the lithium miner released a second quarter update including a 215% rise in spodumene concentrate QoQ, a 651% increase in spodumene concentrate shipments and a 674% rise in total revenue to $89.8m.

What to watch today:

• And ahead of the midweek trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day up 0.35%.
• On the commodities front this morning oil is trading 0.88% lower at US$75.76/barrel, gold is up 1.17% at US$2742/ounce and iron ore is up 0.72% at US$101.21/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback overnight to buy US$0.62, 97.54 Japanese Yen, 50.82 British Pence and 1 NZ$1.11 cents.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained a buy rating on HUB24 (ASX:HUB) and have raised the 12-month price target from $73 to $79.20 on the specialist investment platform provider after the company reported record net inflows of $5.5bn, new product launches are resonating with the target audience and growth potential in the 2nd half of FY25.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on AMP (ASX:AMP) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 24-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $1.64 to the range of $1.74 to $1.76 according to standard principles of technical analysis.