Australian shares fell on Monday, dragged by banks and energy stocks, as fresh flare-up in U.S.-China trade relations kept risk sentiment in check, while shares of Brickworks surged 27.6% on a buyout deal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.2% lower at 8,414.10 points. The benchmark logged monthly gains in April and May and has risen 14.6% since the slump on April 7 triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
The financial sub-index was among the biggest drags on the day, with three of the ‘Big Four’ lenders falling while Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 0.3%.
Bank losses were likely driven by a new wave of profit-taking, especially after the sector staged a full recovery from April’s selloff to a four-month high, said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Markets.
Trump on Friday accused China of violating a bilateral deal to roll back tariffs, rekindling concerns over trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday Trump and his counterpart in China, Xi Jinping, will speak soon to discuss trade issues, including a dispute over critical minerals.
Focus will now be on the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May policy meeting on Tuesday and the country’s gross domestic product data on Wednesday. Economists expect an annual growth rate of 1.5%, up from 1.3% previously.
The energy sector was the biggest percentage decliner on the benchmark, falling 1.4%. Industry major Woodside Energy and smaller peer Santos shed 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively.
Miners fell 1%, tracking weaker iron ore prices from last week.
Among individual stocks, Brickworks inked a deal that would allow its major shareholder Washington H Soul Pattinson to buy out the building materials maker, creating a new company worth A$14 billion ($9.04 billion), sending its shares soaring 27.6%.
New Zealand markets were closed due to a public holiday.
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