Company Interview / the open: ASX to slide as Trump softens tariffs

The local market is set to open modestly lower to begin the week with ASX futures down 8 points. This comes after stocks in Europe turned negative on Friday but risk sentiment improved later in the day when President Trump gave assurances that his proposed 100% tariff on Chinese imports would not be sustainable.  

Stocks on Wall Street ended higher, while quarterly results from regional banks eased concerns about credit risks. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.7%, the Nasdaq rose 2.1% and the Dow climbed 1.6%. Among the companies reporting quarterly results this week are Tesla and Netflix. 

Meanwhile, President Trump has softened his threats of imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese exports saying, “It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is.” The head of the World Trade Organization has urged the US and China to de-escalate trade tensions, warning that a decoupling by the world's two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% over the longer term. 

The US dollar index fell 0.4% on Friday, whilst the Australian dollar is at US65.0. Bitcoin is currently trading at around $109,000.