S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) (ASX:XJO) closed lower today marking its third consecutive down day.
4.10pm: ASX 200 closes down 0.7%
The ASX 200 has finished the week by closing down 44.4 points or 0.7% lower to 5,928.9.
After five consecutive days of gains, the past three days have all posted losses.
The Utilities and Financials sectors ended the day as the most resilient sectors, lower by 0.31% and 0.46% respectively.
[TABLE] ASX 200 ends with a loss of 44 points or 0.74% on Friday every ASX sector lower led by Telecoms and I.T #ausbiz Iress pic.twitter.com/nL3IHaE2cx
— CommSec (@CommSec) March 2, 2018
12.48pm: ASX 200 down 0.9%
The ASX 200 is down 53.8 points or 0.9% to 5,919.5.
All sectors of the Australian market are in the red with IT underperforming the most down 1.44% and Utilities the most resilient sector, down 0.61%.
The best performing large-cap stocks through the morning session are Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK), Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM) and BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX:BSL).
[VIDEO] Mid-Session 2 Mar 18: Local stocks are losing ground at lunch following a weak lead from Wall Street last night. Comments by President Trump relating to US steel and aluminium import tariffs has put markets in an edgy mood https://t.co/Yzvjb58kJu #ausbiz
— CommSec (@CommSec) March 2, 2018
10.53am: ASX 200 down 0.7%
The ASX 200 is down 39.1 points or 0.7% to 5,934.2.
VIDEO: US Close 2 Mar 18 : Steel and Aluminium tariff news bites markets.https://t.co/Wr0oJWukVf
— CommSec (@CommSec) March 1, 2018
Pre-market wrap: S&P/ASX 200 set to open lower again as Trump tariff comments rattle US markets
The Dow Jones (INDEXDJX:DJI) closed down 420 points or 1.68% to 24,609.
The AUDUSD was unchanged over the past 24 hours to 0.7761.
Gold was also unchanged at US$1,319 while WTI Crude Oil was up slightly to US$61.20 per barrel.
Trump rattles markets with tariff comments
US markets sold off and the USD rallied overnight as President Donald Trump said the US would impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports next week.
The idea of the tariff on imports is to protect US companies by stimulating domestic steel and aluminium production.
However, by discouraging importing China’s cheaper steel and aluminium, costs would likely rise for industries that consume the products.
Upcoming economic data: Monthly new home sales
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) is expected to release its monthly data for new home sales today.
It measures the change in the number of newly constructed homes sold.
It's a leading indicator of economic health because the sale of a new home triggers a wide-reaching ripple effect.
For example, furniture and appliances are purchased for the home, a mortgage is sold by the financing bank, and brokers are paid to execute the transaction.
Yesterday, data released by CoreLogic showed that home prices across Australia's major cities fell for a fifth straight month in February.
CoreLogic's index of home prices for the combined capital cities fell 0.3% in February adding to the 0.5% fall in January.
After a slew of economic data results in the US this week, there is only the revised University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment estimate left tonight.