Australia shares fall after NAB results offset miners, Middle East tensions drag

Australian shares fell on Monday as a slew of weaker earnings, including those of NAB and JB Hi-Fi, overshadowed gains in miners and energy stocks, while no interim peace deal emerged between the US and Iran.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 9,084.10 by 0053 GMT.

The benchmark slipped 1.6% last week.

The third week of the earnings season kicked off with National Australia Bank tanking as much as 4.8%, after the lender logged a 15% decline in third-quarter Australian home loan applications compared with the second quarter.

That hurt banking stocks which fell 1%, with the ‘Big Four’ banks trading in the red except Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which stayed flat.

NAB closes an August reporting season for Australia’s major banks overshadowed by mounting concern that the repeal of lucrative property-investment tax breaks could hit earnings and credit growth.

Bucking the trend, miners rose as much as 1.5%, after iron ore prices gained on Friday.

Gold stocks climbed 2.4%, after bullion prices were headed for a weekly gain.

Gold miners Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources gained as much as 2.1% and 2%, respectively.

Energy stocks joined the rally and surged 1%, as crude oil futures climbed over $1 a barrel on Friday.

Risk appetite faltered as peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with no signs of a deal being brokered.

Shares of JB Hi-Fi were on track for its worst session since late March 2020, after the electronics retailer’s total sales at its Australian business fell 0.5% in the first month of fiscal 2027.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.1% to 13,837.

Dairy producer a2 Milk sank as much as 10.2% after it logged a 44% drop in its full-year profit.