Australian shares fell on Thursday, dragged down by energy and bank stocks, while investors assessed the economic implications of the country’s top trading partner China unlocking more fiscal stimulus.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.6% to hit 8,096, as of 1205 GMT.
The benchmark fell 0.7% on Wednesday.
Australia’s top trading partner China unleashed more stimulus on Wednesday, as it looks to defend its economy from the ramifications of a tariff face-off with the US Energy stocks slumped about 2.5%, after crude oil prices settled down to their lowest in months as the US reported larger-than-expected stockpiles of the commodity.
Sector major Woodside Energy shed as much as 5.1% to hit a more than three-year low of A$22.89, while smaller rival Santos fell 1%.
Heavyweight financials dropped 0.5% and were set for a third straight session of losses.
Major lender Westpac shed 0.7%, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia slumped 0.5%.
Healthcare stocks were also among the benchmark’s top losers, down 1.3%, while consumer discretionary stocks lost 1.1%.
Biopharmaceutical company CSL dropped 1.1%, while content creator Aristocrat Leisure retreated 1.2%. Bucking the trend, however, domestic miners, who export their iron ore to top steelmaker China, gained 0.3%.
Banks drag Australian shares lower amid growing trade war worries
Mining major Fortescue, which ships most of its iron ore to China, climbed 0.8%. Sector giant Rio Tinto, however, shed 1.4% as underlying commodity prices weighed on sentiment.
Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 485.60 points, or 1.14%, to 43,006.59.
The S&P 500 gained 64.48 points, or 1.12%, while Nasdaq gained 267.57 points, or 1.46%.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was trading largely flat on Thursday.
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