The strongest sector on the bourse was utilities, with Origin Energy (up 1 per cent), AGL Energy (up 0.8 per cent) and pipeline business APA Group (up 1 per cent) all moving higher.
Energy stocks were mixed, with oil and gas giant Woodside gaining 0.3 per cent while Santos fell 0.4 per cent, as the price of oil stabilised amid cooling tensions over Iran.
US stock futures slid on Monday, though a holiday in US equity and bond markets made for thin trading and probably contributed to the 0.9 per cent drop in S&P 500 futures and a 1.1 per cent fall in Nasdaq futures.
In response to Trump’s comments over Greenland on the weekend, major European Union states decried the tariff threats over Greenland as blackmail. France proposed responding with a range of previously untested economic countermeasures.
The EU’s options include a package of its own tariffs on €93 billion ($161.7 billion) of US imports that was suspended for six months in early August, and measures under an Anti-Coercion Instrument that could hit US services trade or investments.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank noted European countries owned $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined, and might consider bringing some of that money back home.
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“With the US net international investment position at record negative extremes, the mutual interdependence of European-US financial markets has never been higher,” said George Saravelos, Deutsche’s global head of FX research.
“It is a weaponisation of capital rather than trade flows that would by far be the most disruptive to markets.”
The Australian dollar was trading at US66.97¢, down from US67.02¢ on Friday at 5pm.
In Wall Street’s final session of last week the S&P 500 fell 4.46 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6940.01. It is sitting just below its record, which was set early last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.11 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 49,359.33. The Nasdaq composite fell 14.63 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 23,515.39. Each index notched weekly losses.
Smaller company stocks fared better. The Russell 2000 eked out a 0.1 per cent gain, while also notching a 2 per cent gain for the week.
Technology stocks were the strongest forces behind the market’s moves throughout most of the day. Several big technology stocks made strong gains and helped offset losses elsewhere.
Broadcom rose 2.5 per cent and Micron Technology rose 7.8 per cent. The semiconductor companies are among several big-tech companies with outsized valuations that often push the market higher or lower.
A handful of regional US banks reported their earnings following mixed reports from their larger peers. Pittsburgh’s PNC jumped 3.8 per cent after it beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter targets but Regions Financial fell 2.6 per cent after reporting results that missed forecasts.
