Australia: Mining, gold stocks drag shares lower

[SYDNEY] Australian shares snapped a three-day rally on Thursday, with losses in mining and gold stocks dragging down the resource-heavy benchmark index amid growing concerns over a surge in coronavirus cases.

The benchmark ASX 200 index lost 0.54 per cent to end at 7,491.2 as new daily Covid-19 cases in the country topped 1,000 on Thursday for the first time ever.

Focus was now on the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday in hopes that the US Federal Reserve does not change its stance on policy tightening.

"I think... (Fed chair) Jerome Powell is basically going to repeat what he said before and give no guidelines on tapering," said Mathan Somasundaram, market portfolio strategist at Blue Ocean Equities.

Investors are also bracing for a more hawkish stance from some of the major central banks around the world, following a surprise move by the South Korean central bank to raise its policy rate for the first time in nearly three years.

"South Korea putting up rates has started the capital wars, as we're beginning to see risk come into the market....and the money is looking to leave Australia," Mr Somasundaram added.

Miners fell 1.6 per cent on weaker copper prices, with global miners Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals losing about 1 per cent each.

Gold stocks led declines on the benchmark, shedding 2.3 per cent on subdued bullion prices, with Tribune Resources falling the most.

Financials fell 0.2 per cent, with one of the "Big Four" lenders, National Australia Bank slipping 0.5 per cent after it was fined US$13.43 million for issuing incorrect fee disclosure statements in a 2019 case.

Tech stocks lost 1.2 per cent, with Appen and Link Administration leading losses on both the sub-index and the broader benchmark, down 21 per cent and 12.6 per cent, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.9 per cent to 13,051.62.

REUTERS