End of Day Report – Tuesday 21 January: ASX 200 up 55 points | Tariffs in focus | BHP quarterly

ASX 200 greeted the Trump era with volatility. The ASX 200 finished up 55 points to 8402 (0.7%), having sprinted out of the blocks early on tariff news and then collapsing as Mexico and Canada were threatened with a Feb 1 kick-off. Welcome to the funhouse. Across the board gains ultimately stuck, banks moved higher again on Macquarie upgrades, the Big Bank Basket ran to $257.96 (+1.2%). NAB up 2.1% and insurers moved higher, QBE up 0.9% and AMP up 2.5% with GQG up 3.3%. HUB up 11.0% on a FUA update. REITs flat, GMG down 0.6% and VCX off 0.5%. Industrials firm, but unexciting, JBH bounced 3.3% with WES up 1.6% on Catch news, REA did well up 2.8% and tech was slightly higher. The All-Tech Index was up 0.7%. Resources saw buyers back, iron ore miners up, BHP up 0.9% and RIO pushing 0.4% higher. Gold miners were better, NST on quarterly numbers, EVN up 2.2% and NEM up another 0.7%. Energy stocks mixed, WDS up 0.5% and STO falling 2.2%. YAL had a good quarter. In corporate news, LTR rallied another 11.9% on latest production numbers, CVN fell 22.6% on another delay to El Dorado. Nothing locally on the economic front, it was all about Trump. Asian markets were firm but cautious as no new tariffs were announced. So far. Japan unchanged. HK up 1.1% and CSI 300 up 0.4%. 10-year yields slid to 4.41%.

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