End of Day Report – Wednesday 5 March: ASX 200 down 57 points | Trump addresses Congress

The ASX 200 dropped another 57 points to 8141 (-0.7%) partially ignoring a decent rally in US futures as Trump gave his State of the Union address. China now targeting 5% GDP growth in a separate proclamation. Banks dragged us down with the Big Bank Basket down to $251.84 (-1.0%). CBA down 0.9% and MQG off 1.3% with XYZ continuing to stumble down another 4.1%. REITs slipped lower, VCX down 0.5% and GPT off 0.9%. Healthcare also down, RMD falling 2.3% and TLX off 1.2%. Industrials under pressure across the board with ex dividends not helping. WES dropped 0.8% with WOW and COL sliding on ex-dividend as did TWE off 5.6%. Retail eased back, PMV off 2.4% and JBH down 1.8% with GYG up 2.1% on a broker upgrade. Tech stocks mixed, WTC up 1.2% and XRO down 0.7%. The All-Tech Index off 0.4%. Resources were mixed, iron ore stocks seeing some buying, BHP up 0.2% and RIO up 0.2%. MIN still under pressure on debt and governance issues, down 1.9%. Gold miners were positive, WAF up 6.5% and EVN up 1.4%. Energy stocks still falling, WDS down 1.5% and STO falling 1.6%. Uranium stocks finding some support. In corporate news, Virgin gets approval for Qatar investment. WTC said it expects to appoint new directors very soon. MIN saw a downgrade by Fitch and SUN and IAG clarified Alfred impacts. In economic news, we saw a better than expected 0.6% rise in GDP. Asian markets were steady on Chinese stimulus talk, Japan up 0.7%, HK up 1.7% and China up 0.3%. 10-year yields 4.35%.

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