liveLive updates: Wall Street gains continue on first Trump tariff deal, ASX set for flat startBy business editor Michael JandaTopic:Stock Market3h ago3 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:21pmSkip to timelineabc.net.au/news/asx-markets-business-news-live-updates/105271992Link copiedShareShare articleUS shares have continued recent gains as Donald Trump's administration strikes its first post "Liberation Day" trade deal, with staunch ally the UK.However, UK traders didn't appear impressed, with the FTSE easing lower, and local traders aren't enthused either, with the ASX 200 futures flat.Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.Key EventsASX starts dead flat8m ago8 minutes agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:23amUK-US tariff deal 'nothing at all to do with economic reality,' Wolfers says43m ago43 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:48pmNewsCorp earnings beat expectations1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:18pmShow all key eventsSubmit a comment or question Log in to commentLive updatesLatestOldestPinned5m agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:26amMarket snapshotMBy Michael JandaASX 200: +3 points to 8,194 pointsAustralian dollar: -0.2% 63.88 US centsS&P 500: +0.6% to 5,664 pointsNasdaq: +1.1% to 17,928 pointsFTSE: -0.3% to 8,532 pointsEuroStoxx: +0.4% to 536 pointsSpot gold: +0.2% to $US3,310/ounceBrent crude: +0.1% to $US62.92/barrelIron ore: +0.5% to $US98.45/tonneBitcoin: +0.2% to $US102,963Prices current at 10:25am AEST.Live updates on the major ASX indices:Copy linkKey Event8m agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:23amASX starts dead flatMBy Michael JandaYou can't get flatter than that, the share market is making a pancake, or even a crepe, look like a mountain.The ASX 200 was totally flat at 8,192 points after 20 minutes of trade. Even the points movement was coming up as 0.LoadingThe Australian dollar has eased from recent highs and is sitting at 63.9 US cents.Copy link13m agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:18amWolfers says US-China trade talk outcomes unpredictable, likens Trump to teenagerMBy Michael JandaThe ABC News channel interview with Justin Wolfers, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan, was an absolute cracker.After comparing the UK-US trade agreement to one pea in a meat and veg dinner, he moved on to likening Donald Trump's refusal to contact Chinese President Xi to his teenage self."There is virtually an embargo between the two countries," Wolfers said of the current tariff situation between the US and China."We've [US] got 145% tariff [on China], they've got 125% tariff [on US] … That's unsustainable. It's incredibly painful. It's painful for the American people, it's painful for the Chinese. So there's an incredible incentive to get a deal done."The problem is that the politics of this got mixed up and got weird. President Trump imposed these 145% tariffs in a bid to bring the Chinese to the bargaining table, but he actually has not spoken to China's President Xi through his entire presidency, refuses to pick up the phone."He's sort of like the 14-year-old version of me — there was some girl I wanted to call, I didn't have the courage to call, I sat by the phone, nothing ever happened and we never formed that productive and beautiful relationship we could have formed."What a metaphor.Copy linkKey Event43m agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:48pmUK-US tariff deal 'nothing at all to do with economic reality,' Wolfers saysMBy Michael JandaJustin Wolfers, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan, has told ABC News Channel the agreement between the US and UK announced overnight is almost meaningless, except for the political optics."When two politicians get together and they make a deal that I make you look good and you make me look good, that serves each of their political interests but may have nothing at all to do with economic reality," he commented."The economic reality of this is basically this is not very much."What I want you to do is imagine a plate, maybe at your dinner, got a big steak on it, maybe it's got a bit of potato on it and you got a side of peas there, this trade deal might be one of those peas. That's it. It's very, very small."Basically what we have is the United States has levied a 10% tariff on every country around the world, including Australia and including Britain, and it didn't budge."Beyond that, you got a few very small carve-outs for individual industries, but there's really nothing here to pay much attention to at all. Beyond noticing that it looks like there's not much to be gained from doing a deal with the president."Tell it like it really is Justin!Copy linkKey Event1h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:18pmNewsCorp earnings beat expectationsMBy Michael JandaE&P Capital's analyst Entcho Raykovski had a useful overview of the result."News Corp has reported 3Q25 [third quarter] revenue of US$2,009m (+0.8% vs Cons) and EBITDA of US$290m (+8.2% vs Cons)," he noted."EBITDA of US$290m was also ahead of our estimates, with the beat relative to our forecasts driven by better-than-expected earnings across each of the divisions, with Digital Real Estate, Dow Jones and Books all coming in ahead of our estimates."This is another good result from News Corp, and we'd expect the stock to outperform the market today."Unsurprisingly, NewsCorp's chief executive Robert Thomson also lauded the result."The sustained strength of News Corp's third quarter reflects the Company's strategic transformation," he said in a statement."We have pursued digital growth, realigned our assets, focused relentlessly on cost discipline and asserted the essential value of our intellectual property in a changing, challenging content world."Thomson also noted the sale of pay TV service Foxtel to global sports streaming giant DAZN, a company profiled by Background Briefing this week (see link below)."The completion of the sale of Foxtel to DAZN last month marked a significant moment for News Corp as we continued to focus on our core pillars and on driving growth. The transaction meaningfully strengthened our balance sheet and is expected to increase return on invested capital, and be accretive to earnings per share. It also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to maximizing returns for our shareholders."Thomson finished with a rather philosophical flourish on the importance of quality journalism by humans."The enduring importance of quality journalism cannot be underestimated in the midst of a political and economic maelstrom. The currency of credibility will become even more crucial as AI continues its exponential growth and inevitably blurs the lines between the actual and the anthropomorphic."Australia's best sports rights in the hands of a Soviet-born, former oil tycoonCopy link1h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 10:42pmMarket snapshotMBy Michael JandaASX 200 futures: +3 points to 8,216 pointsAustralian dollar: Flat at 63.98 US centsS&P 500: +0.6% to 5,664 pointsNasdaq: +1.1% to 17,928 pointsFTSE: -0.3% to 8,532 pointsEuroStoxx: +0.4% to 536 pointsSpot gold: +0.4% to $US3,320/ounceBrent crude: +3.3% to $US63.12/barrelIron ore: +0.4% to $US98.30/tonneBitcoin: +0.2% to $US102,828Prices current at 8:40am AEST.Live updates on the major ASX indices:Copy linkKey Event1h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 10:36pm'UK-US trade deal is not a big deal'MBy Michael JandaThis analysis out from Paul Dale, the chief UK economist at Capital Economics, who headlines his note, "UK-US trade deal is not a big deal"."As a result of all this, we estimate that the US effective import tariff rate with the UK may rise from 1% last year to around 11%, compared to the 13% or so that was in place yesterday," he concludes."If Trump were to place 25% tariffs on pharmaceuticals in the future, that would add another 3 percentage points or so and take it to around 14%."So the UK will still be subject to much higher import taxes in the US than it was before Donald Trump took office for a second time."The trade deal won't significantly alter the outlook for the UK economy," Dale continues."That's because the initial US import tariffs applied to UK exports by Trump in March and April (a baseline on all goods of 10% and 25% tariffs for cars, steel and aluminium) wouldn't have reduced UK GDP by much more than 0.1-0.2%."It follows that trimming some of those tariffs won't reduce that small drag by much."However, aside from the previously mentioned aerospace companies, Dale notes that the proposed deal is much more significant to certain pockets of UK industry."The trade deal is of greater importance to some sectors of the UK economy than the whole economy, with the car sector being able to breathe a sigh of relief having tariffs effectively reduced from 25% to 10%," he explains."Cars are the UK's single largest goods export to the US, accounting for 15% of the total last year."Copy linkKey Event2h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:53pmUS shares gained as much as 1.6pc on the trade deal, then reality set inMBy Michael JandaSome very useful analysis of overnight market action and reaction to the US-UK trade deal from NAB's head of market economics Tapas Strickland.He points out that the S&P 500 initially rose as much as 1.6% on announcement of the deal, before erasing most of those gains to close just 0.6% higher."Why the paring back of the initial enthusiasm? The UK-US Trade Framework is only a framework and has many unresolved issues," he notes."This is also an agreement where the US already runs a goods trade surplus with the UK. Final details are still being negotiated."The deal so far includes the 10% baseline tariff on most goods remaining while tariffs on steel and aluminium will fall from 25% to zero. The UK will be able to export 100,000 cars a year to the US at a 10% tariff (down from 27.5%). There will be "reciprocal" market access on beef. The UK will remove the tariff on US ethanol and committed to import more US goods, including Boeing planes."The real kicker is that even for a strong ally like the UK, where the US already runs a trade surplus (Australia is in the same camp on both counts) it appears that a baseline 10% tariff on most goods is non-negotiable."The US Trade Representative Greer noted other countries should view the U.K. deal as a framework for their negotiations with the US. President Trump also said that the 10% baseline tariff is probably the lowest end for a tariff," Strickland explains."It seems most countries will likely still face at least a 10% baseline tariff, with prospective trade deals more about carveouts for sector specific tariffs."On US-China talks President Trump made positive comments: "I think it's going to be substantive" and he said he would consider lowering the 145% tariff on China, "…right now you can't get any higher. It's at 145% so we know it's coming down". And Commerce Secretary Lutnick noted "Over the next month or so, we're going to roll out dozens of deals"."Copy link2h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:41pmSome clear winners and losers from US-UK trade dealMBy Michael JandaThe UK still maintains a significant aerospace industry, so the carve out for aircraft parts was a big win for some companies.Melrose Industries was the top performer on the FTSE 100, up 5.2%.Another of the top performers was Rolls Royce Holdings, up 3.7%. You may think of cars when you hear Rolls Royce, but the company is actually one of the world's leading jet engine manufacturers.On the flip side, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca was down 3.5% with a deal on drug tariffs put off.The Trump administration has yet to announce its general policy around tariffs for pharmaceuticals.On the other side of the Atlantic, Boeing jumped 3.3% on the trade deal's stipulation of a big aircraft purchase by a British airline.Meanwhile, big pharma fell on the continued uncertainty around tariffs on imported drugs and treatments.Merck was the biggest loser on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, off 1.9%, with Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble also in the red.Copy linkKey Event3h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:25pmTrade deal not the only action in UK overnight, with BoE cutting ratesMBy Michael JandaThe Bank of England met and decided to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25%, as was typically expected, although there were a wide range of views expressed at the policy committee meeting."The vote was a surprise, though, with five members voting for a 25bp cut, two voting for a 50bp cut, and two voting to hold," noted Westpac's Imre Speizer."Guidance remained that additional easing should be "gradual and careful". The BoE emphasised that the UK economy will feel the global impact of tariffs."Although, the direct impact has obviously been softened somewhat through the deal struck with the US overnight.Elsewhere in Europe:"Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, held [the] deposit rate steady at 4.5%, as was widely expected, but reiterated that it will be cut "in the course of 2025", adding that "there is uncertainty about future trade policies…this may pull the interest rate outlook in different directions", noted Speizer."Sweden's central bank, Riksbank, held the policy rate steady at 2.25%, as was widely expected, while signalling an easing bias. It noted that it is more likely now that inflation will undershoot expectations, and that this could suggest a slight easing of monetary policy going forward.""In short, no real surprises from the central banks. Those are still mainly coming from the White House.Copy linkKey Event3h agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:10pmUS shares continue march higher as Trump strikes first trade dealMBy Michael Janda US shares have continued to gain as US president Donald Trump secured his first trade deal, with staunch ally the United Kingdom.The benchmark US indices were up 0.6% (Dow and S&P 500), while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.1%.Traders perhaps didn't think the trade pact was such a good deal for the UK, with London's FTSE share index defying gains elsewhere in Europe (the Eurostoxx was up 0.4% and Germany's DAX 1%) to end 0.3% lower.Here's the main aspects of the deal:The 10 per cent baseline tariff introduced by Mr Trump remains in place.Tariffs on some British-made cars will be reduced from 27.5 per cent to 10 per cent. British car-makers will be given a quota of 100,000 cars a year that can be sent to the US at the lower tariff rate.Tariffs on British steel exported to the US will be cut from 25 per cent to zero. Plane parts can be exported to the US from the UK tariff-free. In return, a British airline is expected to buy $US10 billion ($15.5 billion) of Boeing aeroplanes.There will be reciprocal market access on beef, with British farmers given a tariff-free quota for 13,000 tonnes. Britain will also remove tariffs on US ethanol, which is used to produce beer.The deal outlines plans for further talks on pharmaceuticals. The Australian share market looks set to be caught somewhere between the two, with futures basically flat for the ASX 200.US and UK strike deal as Trump slashes tariffs on British steel, carsCopy linkPosted 3h ago3 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:21pm, updated 1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 10:44pmShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)TimelineRead nextCommentsTimelineKey EventsLatestMarket snapshotMarketsAnalysisEconomyCompany newsASX starts dead flat8m ago8 minutes agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:23amUK-US tariff deal 'nothing at all to do with economic reality,' Wolfers says43m ago43 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:48pmNewsCorp earnings beat expectations1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:18pm'UK-US trade deal is not a big deal'1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 10:36pmUS shares gained as much as 1.6pc on the trade deal, then reality set in2h ago2 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:53pmTrade deal not the only action in UK overnight, with BoE cutting rates3h ago3 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:25pmUS shares continue march higher as Trump strikes first trade deal3h ago3 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 9:10pmTop StoriesAmerican Robert Prevost elected pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIVTopic:Religious LeadersPhoto shows A man in religious robes looks down from a balconyPrice defection slammed as hostile Liberal takeover with Angus TaylorTopic:Political LeadershipAn energy giant 'drained' this householder's batteryTopic:Energy IndustryMeeting with hate preacher triggers court order for notorious terror leaderTopic:ExtremismDeath threats, intimidation, violence: Labor MP labels Wills campaign 'disgusting'Topic:Government and PoliticsJust InAustralia's political conclave theatrics feel blokey, but the future is femaleAAnalysis by Annabel Crabb12m ago12 minutes agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:19amShould Netflix's Adolescence be a teaching tool in schools?Topic:Parenting Teenagers19m ago19 minutes agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:12amRenting labelled the Pilbara's 'Achilles heel' with no clear solutionTopic:Rental Housing36m ago36 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 11:55pmIn 10 minutes, Pope Leo XIV told us a lot about himself, and his agendaTopic:Religious Leaders21m ago21 minutes agoFri 9 May 2025 at 12:10amMore Just InBack to top