ASX to open flat as trade tensions escalate over Trump’s Greenland push

The Australian share market is expected to open flat on Monday after last week ended with Wall Street nearing record highs, while trade tensions between the US and Europe escalated over the weekend.

Futures are pointing to the S&P/ASX200 opening 1 point lower at 8876, following a volatile session on Wall Street last Friday (US time) that saw US stocks fall. The ASX had five consecutive days of gains last week.

The turbulent day for stocks capped a week of similar movements in major indices due to earnings reports from banks and updates on inflation.

Over the weekend, trade tensions between the United States and major European countries also increased after President Donald Trump announced that he would increase customs duties on eight European countries until Greenland is sold to the United States.

Leading European Union countries on Sunday condemned tariff threats against Greenland as blackmail. France proposed to respond with a series of economic countermeasures that had not been tried before.

The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.1572, its lowest level since November, as early trading began in Asia-Pacific. While the yen strengthened against the dollar, sterling also fell.

In the last session of the week, the S&P 500 index decreased by 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 6,940.01 points. It is just below the record set at the beginning of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.11 points, or 0.2 percent, to 49,359.33 points. The Nasdaq composite fell 14.63 points, or 0.1 percent, to 23,515.39 points. Every index recorded weekly losses.

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Smaller company stocks outperformed. The Russell 2000 index gained 0.1 percent, while it also gained 2 percent for the week.