Australia

Pleas note: we will be discontinuing the Global Markets Report after 28 February.

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US stocks fell on trade concerns.

ASX futures were down 1.18% or 101 points as of 8:30am on Monday, suggesting a lower open.

US stocks fell as investors move to the sidelines ahead of the expected implementation of tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China over the weekend.

Traders are waiting on details of possible exemptions from key products including energy and any retaliation from abroad. Trade war worries offset early strength tied to strong earnings reports.

Indexes rose for the month on continued optimism about generally business friendly policies from the Trump administration.

DJIA fell 337 points, or 0.8%, to 445,44, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% to 6,040 and the Nasdaq declined 0.3% to 19,627. The DJIA remains up 4.7% in 2025, while the S&P 500 gained 2.7% and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.29% to US$0.22 a barrel, while gold was up 0.14% to US$2,798.41.

The Australian dollar was at 62.08 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,250.60, and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 1.3% to 1,911.09.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 20,225.11.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 0.1% to 39,572.49.

India shares ended unchanged. The BSE SENSEX flat at 77,505.96.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.3% to 8,673.96.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX was unchanged at 21,732.05, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.1% to 7,950.17.

North America

US stocks ended lower. The DJIA fell 0.8% to 44,544.66, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5% to 6,040.53, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.3% to 19,627.44.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Franklin Resources Inc BEN, surging 10.42%, Eastman Chemical Co EMN jumped 7.55%, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc VRTX lifted 5.33%.

The biggest decliners were Deckers Outdoor Corp DECK which dropped 20.51%, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA fell 10.30%, and ResMed Inc RMD lost 8.33%.