European stock markets have edged lower after US President Donald Trump’s attack on the Federal Reserve chair sparked a sell-off of US assets, putting fresh pressure on Treasuries, while gold hit a record high.

Trump stepped up his criticism of Fed chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, calling him a “major loser”, in a social media post on Monday, which raised concerns about the president’s influence over the central bank.

Wall Street indices lost 2.4 per cent on Monday and the dollar hit its lowest in three years.

US Treasury yields rose as traders worried the government could try to replace Powell with someone who would cut rates.

Trump said last week he believed Powell would leave his job if Trump asked him to do so, although Powell himself has said he would not.

It is unclear whether Trump has the authority to fire Powell, though lawsuits over unrelated firings by Trump are being watched as possible proxies.

Investor confidence has already been shaken by Trump’s volatile policymaking and back-and-forth announcements about US tariffs, which traders fear could create severe disruption in world trade.

The sell-off was less severe during Asian trading on Tuesday, and European stock markets showed signs of steadying, though markets were mixed, with the STOXX 600 down 0.4 per cent and Germany’s DAX down 0.2 per cent at 0909 GMT.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2 per cent .

The MSCI World Equity index was down by less than 0.1 per cent on the day.

“The market is very jittery so any sense of negativity, any sense of worry, just gets escalated or exaggerated,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.

“There’s a lot of investor anxiety, just generally surrounding the trade war, but then you’re seeing that heightened because of the confrontation between Trump and Powell.”

The US dollar index was around 98.369, steadying after having hit its lowest since March 2022 on Monday.

The euro was a touch lower at $US1.1502.

“The independence of the Federal Reserve is a cornerstone of the dollar’s credibility,” noted Quasar Elizundia, a research strategist at broker Pepperstone.

“The dollar’s status as the ultimate safe-haven asset can no longer be taken for granted; it is being actively challenged.”

US Treasury yields – which have risen in recent weeks – showed signs of steadying in early trading on Monday, with the US 10-year yield at 4.4125 per cent .

The weakness in the dollar, along with demand for safe-havens, helped gold hit a new all-time high of $US3,500.05, before easing to about $US3,455.43, still up on the day overall .

Tesla is due later on Tuesday, having already shed almost 6 per cent on Monday amid reports of production delays, and Google-owner Alphabet’s earnings are due on Thursday.

Oil prices rose, due to short-covering, but traders remained worried about US tariffs impacting fuel demand.

While White House talks on various trade deals are underway or about to start, a quick resolution seemed unlikely.

Analysts at JPMorgan noted the average trade deal took 18 months to negotiate and 45 months to implement.

“We reiterate our view that if current policies do not change, then the probability of a US recession in 2025 is 90 per cent,” they said in a note.

China on Monday warned countries against striking trade deals with the US at China’s expense.

Pope Francis is being remembered by the nation’s top Catholics for his love of people and Australian-like informality as millions of believers mourn his passing.

The 88-year-old’s death on Monday after a serious health battle was marked by tolling church bells and preparations for scores of memorial masses for the leader ahead of his funeral on Saturday.

Outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Archbishop Peter Comensoli described Pope Francis as someone who took a personable approach to the role.

Archbishop Comensoli met with the pontiff several times, most notably when he was appointed into his role in Melbourne in 2018.

“He knew me personally … whenever you engaged with Francis it was direct, it was an encounter, one to one,” he said.

“Even when there were a whole lot of other people, he honed in, for a short moment, but he did that.”

Archbishop Comensoli said Pope Francis had the ability to listen and respond to others. 

He jokingly spoke of a time where he penned a letter to the Pope, while passing through Rome. 

Archbishop Comensoli was leading a group of young people who were attending the World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023 and had asked for a meeting on a whim. 

“He said yes, amazingly,” he said. 

“These young people had an hour with him. He said ‘ask me questions’. He was so open to it and so engaged. It was very beautiful.”

Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, who met Francis about 20 times, described the Pope as very easy to talk to and almost like “an Australian in terms of his informality”.

“He shared a real passion for the marginalised, for refugees, for people who felt alienated from society, for people who were poor, financially and emotionally,” he told ABC TV.

Many mourners attended early masses at local cathedrals following the Pope’s passing.

Adam Wojcik, 30, said Pope Francis’ time at the helm made him hopeful about the future of the church while paying his respects at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday.

“I am a gay man as well and this is weird for me to kind of connect with the church like this,” he told AAP. 

“Something has really moved me about Pope Francis.

“I just hope that whoever comes next, carries that same message of hope for humanity, especially in this tumultuous, crazy world.”

Outside Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, Stephen said Francis had continued Pope John Paul II’s legacy as a man of the people.

“That’s what Pope Francis brought to this world: really giving everyone hope and not just making the church something that’s symbolic,” he told AAP.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the major party leaders had agreed to dial back election campaigning on Tuesday as a sign of respect.

He attended mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.

Anglican Archbishop Geoffrey Smith said Pope Francis was a man of “great humility and humanity”.

“Not only did he dedicate his life to serving the poor and standing up for those facing persecution, he was a great advocate for peace during these unsettling times,” he said.

National flags on government buildings flew at half-mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect.

Cardinal Mykola Bychok said he was filled with sadness for the loss of a “Pope of peace” and a man of simple piety.

He was on his way to the Middle East on a pilgrimage but will divert to Rome to take part in the funeral rites before joining other cardinal electors to choose the 267th and next pope.

After years of delays and fervent opposition from environment groups, Santos has cleared the final hurdle for its multibillion-dollar Barossa gas project.

First gas on the $5.8 billion mega-project, about 285km north-northwest off the coast of Darwin, is expected in coming months after offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA gave the project its final regulatory approval on Tuesday.

The Adelaide-based company will now be able to hook up a floating production storage and offloading vessel, allowing gas to be transported from the project’s six wells to processing facilities.

Pipeline work on the controversial project was halted in late 2022 after a court challenge from three Tiwi Island elders.

Santos eventually won the Federal Court battle in January 2024.

The Environmental Defenders Office – which represented the Tiwi Islanders – was slammed by the judge for confecting evidence in the case and ordered to pay Santos more than $9 million in legal costs.

But the delay of about three months meant the project would incur an extra $US200-300 million ($A311-$467 million) in capital expenditure costs, Santos revealed.

The approval was met with condemnation by environmental groups.

With production capacity of 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per year, critics say Barossa contains a higher proportion of CO2 than any other gas field in Australia.

The Australian Conservation Foundation said the project’s environmental plan failed to properly assess greenhouse gas emissions from the “massive climate bomb”.

The Environment Centre NT said the approval was a failure of the Albanese government’s safeguard mechanism, which requires major emitters to reduce greenhouse gases in line with Australia’s climate targets.

Mark Ogge, principal advisor at the Australia Institute, called on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to strengthen the coalition’s gas reservation policy to prevent the need for new projects in the Northern Territory.

“If a small amount of Barossa’s gas was reserved for use in Australia, there would be absolutely no need to frack for gas in the Northern Territory,” he said.

In a market update in February, Santos reassured investors that the project was 91 per cent complete and on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025.

Santos said that final welds on a pipeline connecting the Barossa field to the Darwin LNG plant were under way and three wells were drilled and completed.

A fourth was partially drilled and suspended for later completion, with work on a fifth well under way.

Santos shares finished 0.7 per cent lower at $5.61 on Tuesday.

Santos was approached for comment.

Leaders have paused politicking and trading barbs as a papal-sized shadow was cast over the election campaign.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton cancelled campaign events and attended church services to pay tribute to the late Pope Francis as early voting opened across the country.

Mr Albanese had planned to campaign in Melbourne while Mr Dutton was scheduled to hit the hustings in Orange.

“His kindness, humility and devotion was admired by people of all faiths and people of none, that’s why his loss is being mourned,” the prime minister said on Tuesday after attending mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

Mr Dutton, who attended a service at Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, added: “I don’t think it’s a day for overt politicking at all, I think the day is best spent reflecting”.

But some politicians still hit the hustings to capture pre-poll voters, with Nationals leader David Littleproud announcing a veterans hub in the seat of Calare while Greens leader Adam Bandt hit booths in the marginal Melbourne seats of Wills and Macnamara.

With the Pope’s death overshadowing a day of campaigning in a week when Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays also fall, the coalition is running out of time to unveil and sell its major policies in the run up to May 3.

It still has its defence spending policy to unveil and has flagged a major announcement on domestic violence.

Parties wouldn’t get maximum impact if they announced policies too late because early voting meant they “can’t reveal it at the last minute the way they used to”, University of Tasmania public policy associate professor Kate Crowley warned.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said key policies about funding Medicare and tax cuts were put in the field early because it took time to cut through to voters as “people aren’t hanging on every word that politicians say on a day-to-day basis”.

The Liberals are preparing a massive advertising blitz in the final week-and-a-half of the campaign while the Nationals are pouring more resources into the seats of Hunter and Bendigo as it sandbags Calare and Cowper on the NSW north coast.

Several pre-poll voters who spoke to AAP said they would be travelling on election day, leading them to cast early ballots.

They almost unanimously nominated the cost of living as their top election issue, while nuclear power and US president Donald Trump also rated a mention.

“I’m looking for a party less about what they’re going to do here in Australia but how they’re going to situate Australia in the broader scheme, and how they will handle Trump and some other politicians,” IT worker Pete Loy, 44, said at a voting booth Sydney.

Pollster Kos Samaras told the National Press Club the coalition wasn’t adapting to changing demographics as more young people enrolled to vote.

During the coalition’s campaign launch, Mr Dutton notably referred to Menzies’ forgotten people and Howard’s battlers.

“Well, Menzies’s forgotten people are probably all deceased now … and Howard’s battlers are heading into retirement so we’re dealing with a very different Australia,” Mr Samaras said.

“The only solution for the coalition, if they’re to turn the polls around in the next two weeks, is to pivot and find a way to talk to those younger voters that they’re losing.”

Those votes weren’t going to Labor but towards minor parties and independents, he said.

The prime minister and opposition leader are due to go head-to-head in a third leaders’ debate in Sydney on Tuesday night.

Australian shares have edged slightly lower as investors fled from US equities to the safe haven of gold following President Donald Trump’s comments threatening to sack “loser” central bank boss Jerome Powell.

After falling almost one per cent in early trading, goldminers led a recovery in the S&P/ASX200 to be down 8.5 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 7810.6 by noon on Tuesday.

The broader All Ordinaries fell 13.6 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8008.3.

Australian investors initially took their lead from risk-off sentiment on Wall Street overnight.

All three US equity indexes lurched more than two per cent lower, while bonds and the US dollar also tumbled, after Mr Trump ramped up pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Powell to lower interest rates.

The US economy was headed for a slowdown “unless Mr Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates NOW,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post that heightened fears over the central bank’s autonomy.

Gold prices surged as investors on a “buyer’s strike” of US equities sought a safe haven, said Moomoo Australia market strategist Jessica Amir.

“Investor sentiment is sour, evidenced in burgeoning cash balances and hoarding of gold,” she said. 

“That’s a good thing for those investors as gold continues to surge to highs, charging above $US3400 – taking this year’s gains to 30 per cent – with more room to run.”

Australian-listed goldminers soared, helping the materials sector post a 0.08 per cent gain.

Goldminers Northern Star (2.4 per cent), Evolution (3.8 per cent) and St Barbara (11.5 per cent) were among the best performers.

The rest of the big cap miners were mixed, with BHP and Rio Tinto up 0.2 per cent, while Fortescue Metals slipped 0.5 per cent.

Of the remaining 10 industrial sectors on the ASX, consumer staples (0.09 per cent) and financials (0.49 per cent) also gained while the rest turned lower.

Macquarie Group climbed 1.1 per cent to $181.94 after the financial conglomerate announced it would sell off its North American and European public investments business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.

The $2.8 billion deal will see Macquarie’s asset management arm relinquish its international equities, fixed income, and multi-asset investments as it concentrates its focus on the Australian market.

CBA led the big four banks, climbing 1.3 per cent, while Westpac rose 0.6 per cent and NAB firmed 0.1 per cent. ANZ slipped 0.3 per cent.

Energy and IT stocks were the biggest losers.

Uranium miner Deep Yellow slumped 6.6 per cent after announcing it would delay development of its flagship Tumas project in Namibia due to depressed uranium prices.

“We are at an extraordinary stage in the uranium supply sector,” said CEO John Borshoff.

“We have a situation where the long-term uranium market is essentially broken. 

“This is due to more than a decade of sector inactivity, persistently depressed uranium prices, and utility offtake contracting practices which are yet to support the development of greenfields uranium production.”

The Australian dollar climbed to its highest level against the greenback since December following the US sell-off over the weekend.

It was buying 64.15 US cents, up from 63.41 US cents at 5pm on Thursday.

Asian stock markets fought to hold their footing on Tuesday after a furious flight from US assets undermined Wall Street and the dollar, while concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve piled fresh pressure on Treasuries.

Relatively limited losses in Asia sparked talk that funds could be reallocating money to equities in the area, though the impact of tariffs on economic growth remained a major drag.

US President Donald Trump’s increasingly vocal attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates saw Wall Street indexes shed around 2.5 per cent on Monday and the dollar hit three-year lows.

“The ‘sell America’ trade was in full flight,” said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at NAB.

“Whether or not President Trump is legally able and willing to move against the Fed, the jousting underscores the loss of US exceptionalism and the very real policy risk for investors.”

The selling did abate somewhat in Asia, allowing S&P 500 futures to bounce 0.4 per cent and Nasdaq futures 0.5 per cent.

The market faces another test from earnings this week, with Tesla due later in the session, having already shed almost 6.0 per cent on Monday amid reports of production delays.

Also reporting this week are Alphabet and a host of high-profile industrials including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and 3M.

The fallout from Wall Street saw Japan’s Nikkei ease a modest 0.3 per cent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 per cent. Chinese blue chips were holding steady for now.

European shares were less fortunate, with futures for the EUROSTOXX 50, FTSE and DAX all down around 0.7 per cent in choppy trading.

Yields on US 10-year notes stood at 4.40 per cent, having climbed on fears the White House could try and replace Powell with someone more inclined to cut rates, even as inflation was being lifted by Trump’s swingeing tariffs.

There was also the concern that the current Fed might now be more reluctant to ease policy in case that was perceived as giving into political pressure.

While White House talks on various trade deals are underway or about to start, a quick resolution seemed unlikely. Analysts at JPMorgan noted the average trade deal took 18 months to negotiate and 45 months to implement.

“We reiterate our view that if current policies do not change, then the probability of a US recession in 2025 is 90 per cent,” they said in a note.

The loss of confidence in US assets took a heavy toll on the dollar which touched its lowest since March 2022 against a basket of currencies at 97.923 on Monday.

The currency hit a decade-low on the Swiss franc at 0.8038 , while the euro briefly broke above $US1.1500 ($A1.7924), before steadying at $US1.1486 ($A1.7902).

The weakness in the dollar combined with demand for physical safe havens helped gold to another record above $US3,343 ($A5,210) an ounce .

Oil prices have been going the other way as worries about a global slowdown met the prospect of increased supply from OPEC.

There was a slight bounce on Tuesday as Brent rose 58 cents to $US66.82 ($A104.14) a barrel, while US crude added 51 cents to $US63.59 ($A99.11) per barrel.

Politics will be toned down for a day after the Pope’s death as millions of Australians begin to cast their votes with the opening of pre-polling.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have suspended campaign events on Tuesday morning and attended church services to reflect on the life of Pope Francis.

The prime minister attended mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne early on Tuesday morning to mourn the pontiff.

He attended the same church the night before to pay his respects in private after news of the Pope’s death broke.

Mr Dutton is due to attend a commemoration service after starting the day in Orange, in the must-win seat of Calare.

“I don’t think it’s a day for overt politicking at all, I think the day is best spent reflecting,” he told ABC TV on Tuesday.

“Obviously pre-polling opens today and all of that will continue on but I don’t think there’s a place for the sort of body blows of politics today.”

The coalition is running out of time to unveil and sell their major policies in the run up to May 3, with their defence spend announcement and its full suite of budget savings measures still in the bag as Australians start to vote.

It’s sparked warnings about parties not having enough time to sell their messages if they keep policies up their sleeves for too long.

The Liberals are preparing a massive advertising blitz in the final week and a half of the campaign.

Labor has seized on the coalition not balancing its spending with enough cost-saving measures as it launches attacks about “secret cuts” from the opposition.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the government’s key election policies about funding Medicare and delivering tax cuts were put in the field early to inform voters.

“We accept that people aren’t hanging on every word that politicians say on a day-to-day basis and that you do need time to talk about what your plans are,” she told ABC radio.

“Obviously, there’s 11 days to go, so we’ll have further things to say throughout those 11 days, but we also accept that people are taking up the opportunity to vote early and campaigns need to adjust to that.”

University of Tasmania public policy associate professor Kate Crowley agreed, telling AAP “if they’ve got something that they want to have a maximum impact, they can’t reveal it at the last minute the way they used to”.

Mr Albanese called it “extraordinary arrogance” for the opposition leader not to tell Australians where all the flagged cuts will come from until after the election.

Mr Dutton has said he needs the resources of government to determine areas of waste to be targeted as he pledges to reduce the public service by 40,000 and slash immigration numbers.

Both major parties have promised to release the full costing of their policies before the election date.

Pope Francis has been remembered as a leader who was determined to be with the people until the end as millions of Australian Catholics mourn the pontiff’s passing. 

The 88-year-old’s death on Monday after a recent serious battle with double pneumonia was marked by tolling church bells and preparations for scores of memorial masses for the Catholic leader.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president and Perth archbishop Tim Costelloe reflected on images taken just hours before the Pope’s death, when Francis made a public appearance at St Peter’s Square.

“Even though he was so sick, and so weak, he was determined to be with his people,” Archbishop Costelloe told ABC Radio National on Tuesday. 

“And I think being with his people, being present to his people, was probably the great gift that he brought to the church and to the world.”

Many mourners attended early masses at local cathedrals following the Pope’s passing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is Catholic, said the major party leaders had agreed to dial back election campaigning on Tuesday as a sign of respect.

He attended mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on a rainy Tuesday morning, when he was greeted by the cathedral’s dean, Monsignor Stuart Hall.

The Pope’s death could also prove a turning point in Australia’s relationship with the Vatican after Francis overlooked local archbishops when selecting the nation’s sole cardinal in December.

Cardinal Mykola Bychok said he was filled with sadness for the loss of a “pope of peace” and a man of simple piety.

“This sadness is our human reaction to the death of a much-loved father,” the Ukrainian-born, Melbourne-based cardinal said.

“I am grateful for the late Holy Father’s frequent appeals for a just peace in Ukraine and for the efforts of the Holy See that he oversaw – known and secret – that in some way helped bring relief to the imprisoned and suffering.”

Cardinal Bychok was on his way to the Middle East on a pilgrimage but will divert to Rome as soon as possible.

He will take part in the funeral rites before joining other cardinal electors to choose the 267th and next Pope.

Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher – who was controversially overlooked as cardinal – praised the pontiff’s condemnation of what he described as “the globalisation of indifference” when it came to refugees and the poor and “the throwaway culture” towards the unborn and elderly.

Joining the prime minister in an earlier, private prayer at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday evening, Mary Picard recalled a “really good” and progressive Pope.

“He did a lot of good, making some of the really sort of high ceremonies a bit more … for the people,” she told AAP.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton noted the late Pope lived frugally, simply and was driven by “Christ’s values of mercy and forgiveness”.

The leaders debate, expected to be held on Tuesday night, is due to go ahead as planned in Sydney.

Pope Francis was also lauded for inspiring Australia’s 820,000 Catholic school students to live with courage and compassion.

The change in leadership could also offer a chance for Australia to “reset” its relationship with the Vatican, Deakin and Oxford universities’ Catholic Church historian Miles Pattenden said.

“It was an extraordinary snub that Francis made Mykola Bychok, the Ukrainian Australian bishop, cardinal and not the archbishop of Sydney,” Dr Pattenden said.

“There’s no way to read that, except as a rebuke to Sydney. It may be that a new Pope allows for a re-test of that, even if he’s still a liberal.”

National flags on federal government buildings will fly at half-mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect.

Political hopefuls are running out of time to unveil and sell their major policies as Australians begin to cast their votes in the federal election.

The first ballots will be cast on Tuesday as early voting begins ahead of the May 3 poll, with millions expected to skip the lines on election day.

It’s sparked warnings about parties not having enough time to sell their messages if they keep policies up their sleeves for too long.

The coalition still has at least one major announcement to come on its defence spending allocation, while it is yet to specify what public service jobs are on the line as it aims to reduce the commonwealth payroll by 40,000 people. 

Labor has seized on the coalition not balancing its spending with enough cost-saving measures to launch attacks about “secret cuts” as it campaigns heavily on Medicare and other health initiatives.

“When Peter Dutton cuts, Australians will pay,” has been the government’s tagline, which was used again on Monday by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a visit to an urgent care clinic in the marginal NSW south coast seat of Gilmore.

Mr Albanese called it “extraordinary arrogance” for the opposition leader not to tell Australians where all the flagged cuts will come from until after the election.

Mr Dutton has said he needs the resources of government to determine areas of waste to be targeted.

Both major parties have promised to release the full costing of their policies before May 3.

Coalition MPs have defended delaying policy announcements until late in the campaign, saying they will unveil them when Australians are paying the most attention.

But that approach could come back to bite the party if 2022’s early voter turnout of more than 5.5 million people is anything to go by.

Analysts expect many voters going away for the upcoming Anzac Day long weekend and school holidays will take advantage of pre-polling, meaning parties may have to change tack.

“If they’ve got something that they want to have a maximum impact, they can’t reveal it at the last minute the way they used to,” University of Tasmania public policy associate professor Kate Crowley told AAP.

Pre-polling is becoming more popular as voters turn away from major parties, which means Labor and the coalition need to strategise about how election sweeteners are offered during a campaign, she said.

Investors tormented by weeks of tariff turmoil will hope for a quiet return from Easter as mortgage holders eye a rate cut on the horizon.

Stocks in Australia and the US have clawed back ground in the past fortnight after US President Donald Trump hit pause on most elements of his trade war.

But continued uncertainty and the tariff story only half-told means it is too early to say the low in US, global and Australian shares has been passed, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver says.

He pointed to “renewed fears” the White House might start to threaten the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Amid separate court actions to broaden the president’s power to sack independent regulators, Mr Trump late last week said Fed chair Jerome Powell’s sacking cannot “come fast enough”.

“Any threat to Fed independence would further threaten faith in the US as a safe haven and lead to renewed market stress,” Dr Oliver said.

“(It would lead to) even more upwards pressure on US bond yields and downwards pressure on the (US dollar) as investors would demand a higher risk premium to invest in the US.

“This in turn will increase the risk of US financial turmoil and US recession.”

But for the real estate mogul trying to blow up the global trading system, markets this year could have been celebrating inflation being brought back under control with limited damage to economic growth, Dr Oliver said.

Underlying inflation figures released last week were lower than expected in Canada, the UK and New Zealand.

Eyes will be on Australia’s next set of quarterly numbers on April 30 amid expectations underlying inflation has fallen back inside the Reserve Bank’s target band.

The annual rate leapt out of the two-to-three-per-cent range in early 2022, triggering 12 rate rises in 13 months.

Along with AMP, NAB is tipping trimmed mean inflation has eased to 2.8 per cent.

That will help set the scene for a rate cut at the Reserve Bank’s May 20 meeting.

“We think the tariff shock is ultimately disinflationary for Australia,” NAB senior markets economist Taylor Nugent said.

“Unlike some central banks, we don’t think the RBA is constrained by inflation and so can be proactive in responding to global headwinds.”

Noting “exceptionally elevated uncertainty” globally, NAB is preparing for a double-sized cut of 50 basis points.

That would slice $204 off the monthly repayments for the average Australian mortgage ($642,000 over 30 years).

A week bookended by Easter and Anzac Day leaves little space for local economic indicators, with April business conditions the only of note.

Australian markets – up about nine per cent since the darkest day of the trade war on April 7 – were expected to claw back further ground.

The ASX200 rose 172.6 points or 2.26 per cent last week to 7819.1 while the broader All Ordinaries lifted 2.14 per cent to 8021.9.

The SPI/ASX 200 futures over Easter weekend were pointing to a 0.6 per cent rise in early trade on Tuesday.

But that may change with US markets tipped to retreat 0.8 per cent on open on Easter Monday (Tuesday AEST).

Investors will also watch for Tesla results out Wednesday Australian time ahead of Boeing (Thursday) and tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft (Friday).