Yahoo Finance Yahoo Finance morning wrap for Monday
Good morning.
Here’s what you need to know in Australia and beyond to kick off your week:
ASX falls hard: The Australian share market has opened sharply lower amid a new flare-up of US-Chinese trade tensions.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 108.5 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 6,414.6 points at 1015 AEST on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 107.7 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 6,506.6 points.
What’s happened now?
The Chinese government announced retaliatory tariffs on $US75 billion of US goods on Friday, and US President Donald Trump said his country would raise its existing tariffs on $US250 billion worth of Chinese imports to 30 per cent from the current 25 per cent beginning October 1.
On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 2.37 per cent, the S&P 500 was down 2.59 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 3.00 per cent.
Wall Street tumbled after the US-China trade war escalated in dramatic fashion, with President Donald Trump demanding American companies seek alternatives to doing business with China after Beijing announced its own slate of retaliatory measures.
All three major US stock indexes ended the session sharply lower, posting their fourth consecutive weekly declines.
AUD: The Aussie dollar is buying 67.17 US cents from 67.53 US cents on Friday.
Lowering interest rates will only do so much: Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has warned political events are posing a risk to the global economy.
As those political shocks slow growth, Dr Lowe said in a panel discussion at a meeting of central banks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, "there is a strongly-held view that the central bank should just fix the problem.... The reality is much more complicated," and not something monetary policy can likely repair.
All eyes on the G7
What’s ScoMo up to?
Scott Morrison has discussed trade and Australia's plans to join an international mission in the waters south of Iran with several world leaders at the G7 summit in France.
But the prime minister was as surprised as the rest of the leaders when Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif joined the gathering in Biarritz.
He explained Australia's decision of last Wednesday to contribute troops, a surveillance plane and a Navy frigate to the US-led effort to protect shipping lanes from Iran during meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the summit.
What’s Trump up to?
US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron appeared determined to downplay disagreements in the G7 as the western powers met for a summit despite tensions over trade, climate, Russia and Iran.
Even a surprise visit on Sunday by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif for a lightning-quick meeting with Macron, at the invitation of the French government, did not seem to derail the script.
Trump repeatedly praised Macron throughout the first two days of the summit and appeared to accept that he may not get his own way on every issue, at least for now.
Second thoughts on the trade war
President Donald Trump wishes he had raised tariffs on Chinese goods even higher last week, the White House says, even as Trump signalled he did not plan to follow through with a demand that US firms find ways to close their operations in China.
Trump raised eyebrows on the sidelines of a G7 summit when he responded in the affirmative to questions from reporters on whether he had any second thoughts about raising tariffs on Chinese goods by 5 per cent.
"President Trump responded in the affirmative - because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement afterwards that sought to clarify the president's remarks.
Yahoo Finance gives you the scoop on Disney+
In case you haven’t heard, Disney is launching its own version of Netflix, Disney+, in Australia on 19 November 2019.
And it isn’t here to mess around: the multi-billion company is going after families, and it’s ready to rip those viewers away from Netflix, chief creative officer and co-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Alan Horn, said at the D23 Disney fan convention on Sunday morning AEST.
He said launching Disney+ served a joint purpose of allowing the studio to pursue more smaller films, and to take some of the steam out of incumbent giant, Netflix, reports Yahoo Finance Australia’s Lucy Dean from LA.
She also takes a look at D23, Disney’s biggest and most exclusive fanclub. Here, celebrities, writers and directors take to the stage to promote their upcoming projects - their words often drowned out by the screams of their adoring fans.
Meet Bo Peep, Ariel, Belle, and Winifred Sanderson.
The Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit will take place on the 26th September 2019 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney. Check out the full line-up of speakers and agenda here.
