Australian shares fell on Tuesday, incurring broad-based losses led by commodity stocks tracking weakness in underlying commodity prices, while investors cautiously awaited the central bank’s year-end rate decision due later in the day.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8% at 7067.90, as of 0011 GMT, posting its biggest intraday loss since Oct. 30.
The benchmark closed 0.7% higher on Monday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will have its final monetary policy meeting for 2023 later in the day, where it is likely to keep interest rates on hold, a Reuters poll showed.
Additionally, investors are also awaiting the US labour market data due on Wednesday to gauge the trajectory of probable upcoming rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
In Sydney, heavyweight miners led losses and were trading 2.03% lower, their biggest intraday loss since Nov. 8, as iron ore prices took a hit due to production restrictions in Northern China.
Mining titans BHP Group and Fortescue lost 1.8% and 2.0%, respectively.
Gold stocks dropped 3.5%, posting their biggest intraday fall since Oct. 3, tracking a drop in bullion prices globally.
Shares of Northern Star Resources were down 4.7%. Energy stocks fell 0.9% as oil prices slipped.
Australian shares snap 3-day gaining streak
Woodside Energy was down 0.8%, while Santos edged down 0.7%. Rate-sensitive financial stocks fell 0.4%, with the ‘Big Four’ lenders losing between 0.2% and 0.4%.
Gold miner Evolution Mining said it agreed to buy an 80% interest in Northparkes copper-gold mine in New South Wales from Chinese miner CMOC Group for up to $475 million.
Shares of the company were on a trading halt.
The New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely flat at 11,361.00.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.