Australian shares fell on Tuesday, with all sectors in the red as macroeconomic uncertainties weighed on risk sentiment, while traders awaited retail sales data and the minutes of the central bank’s minutes latest meeting.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.1% to 8,151.4 points by 1153 GMT. The benchmark gained 0.9% on Monday.
One of the key macroeconomic variables moving markets are updates on tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Stocks on Wall Street fell after Trump said 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would take effect on Tuesday. Locally, investors await retail sales data for January for further clarity on the country’s interest rate trajectory.
Attention is also on the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) February meeting minutes, wherein it cut rates for the first time in over four years.
Both are due later in the day.
Australia shares rise tracking Wall Street peers; investors await RBA minutes
On the local bourse, heavyweight financial stocks lost 1.2%, with the ‘big four’ banks down between 0.1% and 0.9%.
Miners dropped 1.3%, with BHP Group and Rio Tinto falling 1% each as iron ore futures fell amid rising trade tensions between the US and top consumer China.
Energy stocks fell 2.5% and were set for their biggest one-day fall in more than 3 months, as oil prices fell on reports OPEC+ will proceed with a planned oil output increase in April and worries US tariffs could hurt demand. Woodside Energy was down 2.3%, while smaller rival Santos lost 2.4%.
Technology stocks dropped 1.6%, tracking losses in Wall Street peers. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1% to 12,426.47 points.
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