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Shipbuilder Austal rides military spending wave, shares defy market slump

U.S. President Donald Trump's policies that have rattled stocks around the world are benefiting Australian shipbuilder Austal, analysts said on Wednesday. Shares of the company, which supplies defence and commercial vessels to the Australian and U.S. navies among other clients, surged 35% in the three months ending March, clocking their best quarterly gains in nearly two years since June 2023. The surge in Austal's shares comes amid Trump's call asking Australia and other U.S. security allies to increase defence spending.

Fed's Goolsbee: Hard data shows economy is solid, but there is fear around tariffs

(Reuters) -Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee on Tuesday said while the "hard" data show the underlying U.S. economy is solid, the labor market strong, and inflation down from its peak in 2022, the imposition of a broad new set of tariffs under President Donald Trump could lead to renewed inflation or an economic slowdown. With imports accounting for just 11% of the U.S. economy, Goolsbee said in an interview on Fox News, the impact of tariffs on overall prices could be limited. "The fear is if it jumps out of the 11% lane," he said, either because import levies are applied to components and parts and raise the cost of production in a broad set of industries, "or people start freaking out and change their behavior; and if the consumer stops spending or businesses stop investing because they're uncertain or they're afraid where we're headed, that would be a bit of a mess."