Everything you need to know before the ASX opens. Pic: Getty Images.
Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Friday, August 1, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…
At 7am AEST, ASX futures were down 0.7%, pointing to a wobbly end to the week for Aussie investors.
Here’s what went down while we were sleeping….
Wall Street hits the brakes
The Nasdaq finished basically flat (-0.03%), the S&P 500 slid 0.4%, and the Dow got smacked by 0.7%.
| STOCK INDICES | Value | Change |
| ASX 200 (previous day) | 8,743 | -0.15% |
| S&P 500 | 6,339 | -0.37% |
| Dow Jones | 44,131 | -0.74% |
| Nasdaq Comp | 21,122 | -0.03% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 | 5,320 | -1.36% |
| UK FTSE | 9,133 | -0.05% |
| German DAX | 24,065 | -0.81% |
| French CAC | 7,772 | -1.14% |
But let’s start with the sizzle.
Meta popped 11%, Microsoft hit a US$4 trillion market cap, and Apple smashed expectations thanks to a pre-tariff iPhone shopping frenzy.
Apple’s quarterly revenue surged 9.6% to US$94 billion, driven by US$44.6 billion in iPhone sales.
Amazon, however, tripped on its own shoelaces. Despite strong revenue, the outlook disappointed.
The culprit was its heavy spending on AI data centres in a bid to keep pace with Microsoft and Alphabet. Shares dipped 3% in after-hours trade.
All up, the “Magnificent Seven” now carry a combined market cap of $19 trillion.
That’s more than the GDP of every country except the US and China.
Nvidia leads the charge at $4.4 trillion, with Microsoft at $4T and Apple at $3.1T.
But despite all the hype, the session ended with a shrug, as investors started eyeing Friday’s US jobs report.
Trump throws tariffs, tantrums, and tweets
The main reason Wall Street couldn’t hold its tech-fuelled gains was Donald Trump.
He granted a 90-day tariff reprieve to Mexico (America’s biggest trading partner), but fired a warning shot at Canada.
Then came his latest pharma rant, sending letters to the CEOs of Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, and Novo Nordisk, demanding the US get “the best drug prices in the world.”
He then turned his firehose back on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, calling him “Too Angry, Too Stupid, and Too Political.”
“He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS,” Trump bellowed. “Put another way, ‘Too Late’ is a TOTAL LOSER.”
Wall Street is now bracing for Trump’s August 1 reciprocal tariff decision, which could shake up everyone from China to Chile.
Copper crashes
Copper traders are probably still lying on the floor.
After weeks of pricing in a 50% US tariff on refined copper, the White House instead announced a narrower target focused only on semi-finished products.
Cue the biggest intraday copper price crash in CME history, a brutal 20% plunge.
Importers had already rushed to flood the US with copper in anticipation of broad tariffs.
But Wednesday’s policy swerve left the market with too much metal and too little justification.
If you’re holding copper stocks, expect some near-term heat.
Rio gets a downgrade
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) got a clip behind the ear from Deutsche Bank overnight, with analysts downgrading it from Buy to Hold.
Despite Rio’s strong recent performance and solid valuation (9.2x P/E), Deutsche reckons the stock’s upside may be capped near-term as iron ore prices wobble.
The downgrade comes even as Rio dives deeper into lithium, sealing deals in Chile’s Atacama region with ENAMI and a joint venture with Codelco.
Combined, Rio’s shelling out over $1 billion in cash and commitments to chase lithium.
Deutsche says Rio’s “valuation is undemanding, but not compelling”.
And finally…
Today’s watchlist is stacked.
Locally, we’ll get July dwelling prices and Q2 PPI data.
ResMed (ASX:RMD) will also drop its (belated) results today, giving ASX health stock watchers something to chew on.
Over in China, PMIs will offer a pulse check on the world’s second-largest economy.
But the big one is the US July jobs report, due late tonight.
With consumer spending softening and real wages flatlining, a weak read could cement expectations for a Fed rate cut later this year.
Commodity/forex/crypto market prices
| Price (US) | Move | |
| Gold: | $3,290.14 | 0.47% |
| Silver: | $36.71 | -1.13% |
| Iron ore: | $99.07 | 0.09% |
| Nickel: | $14,950 | -0.89% |
| Copper: | $8,810 | -4.51% |
| Zinc: | $2,766 | -1.08% |
| Lithium carbonate 99.5% Min China Spot: | $8,550 | 0.60% |
| Oil (WTI): | $69.35 | -0.92% |
| Oil (Brent): | $71.85 | -0.85% |
| AUD/USD: | $0.6425 | 0.21% |
| Bitcoin: | $116,498 | -1.13% |
What got you talking
Also in the news…
Doubling up: How ASX biotechs are multiplying their impact and expanding the value of their assets.
There’s been some violent gyrations in lithium markets over the past couple of weeks but sentiment appears to be turning.
Health Check: Today’s crop of last minute quarterly ‘homework’ isn’t hiding too much of the nasty stuff synonymous with ‘just-in-time’ lodgers.
Trading halts
Activeport Group (ASX:ATV) – cap raise
Babylon Pump & Power (ASX:BPP) – potential acquisition and debt funding
Chilwa Minerals (ASX:CHW) – cap raise
Enova Mining (ASX:ENV) – cap raise
Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) – cap raise
HeraMED (ASX:HMD) – cap raise
Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) – cap raise
Nyrada (ASX:NYR) – cap raise
Papyrus Australia (ASX:PPY) – cap raise
RemSense Technologies (ASX:RMN) – cap raise
TG Metals (ASX:TGM) – cap raise
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
