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Donald Trump’s Second Great Trade War is well and truly making itself felt both in equities markets and commodities markets.
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Look no further than the sticky black blood of the global economy if you want proof of that claim. Right now, Brent Crude prices have hit a 4Y low at just over US$560/bbl.
This has, at least, given the Trump administration’s various spokespersons a chance to say that at least gasoline prices will be falling soon. And that’s true, given no unforeseen shocks between then and now.
It goes without saying, that isn’t a given.
(What the impact of Chinese tariffs will be on the price of T-shirts at Walmart in two months remains to be seen.)
Not helping matters – as far as the Brent Crude price goes, for those who’d like to see it go up – is that OPEC+ is sticking by its promise to boost production, reversing what has been a long-held reduction strategy in the last few years.
And so who’s in that camp of people wanting the price of Brent Crude to rise? Well, energy shareholders for one. And the ASX is far from immune.
It’s no secret Woodside (ASX:WDS) is the ASX Energy Sector’s crown jewel, and right now, the southern hemisphere’s second largest energy supermajor isn’t looking so hot.
As of 3.50pm, take a look at Woodside’s performance metrics:
And it isn’t just Woodside.
Not only is the energy sector the worst-performing sector on Wednesday following the price slump, but take a look at the following Wednesday runs from a handful of other favoured O&G players on the bourse:
ASX energy sector is down -4.4%
- Santos (STO) shares down -5.5% to $5.35/sh
- Beach Energy (BPT) shares down -5% to $1.15/sh
- Strike Energy (STX) shares down -6% to 15cps
To be fair to the energy sector here, a lot of the reason why we’re seeing the sector crash to lead the laggards has to do with the fact uranium stocks aren’t looking so hot either.
(That’s more or less a different article, but in a sentence, Trump’s warmth towards Russia has some wondering if the U.S. import ban on Russian uranium might be revoked.)
And so what can we expect ahead for ASX O&G stocks?
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In another sentence: More pain ahead, until China either convinces the market it can remain robust despite Trump’s tariffs, or until Xi is brought to the negotiating table – whether kicking and screaming or otherwise.
Or perhaps Trump could end up kicking and screaming. We’ve never really seen this before.
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