Australia: Shares drop on Covid-19 woes; RBA decision in focus

[BENGALURU] Australian stocks fell on Monday as surging Covid-19 cases in the country dampened sentiment ahead of the central bank's September policy meeting where it could announce a decision on the tapering of its pandemic-era asset purchases.

The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 1.1 per cent to 7,442.6 by 0032 GMT.

Uncertainty over the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) policy lingered, with analysts undecided on whether the RBA will put off its tapering plans on Tuesday.

That piled on to the pressure already brought about by the country continuing its fight with raging Covid-19 infections, having reported 1,684 new cases on Sunday.

Among individual sectors and stocks, miners fell nearly 1 per cent, with iron ore major Fortescue Metals dropping 10.8 per cent to be the top loser on both the benchmark and the mining index.

The "Big Four" banks lost about 1 per cent each, in line with the broader financials index that headed for its worst session in a week.

The energy index lost the most on the benchmark, shedding 2.2 per cent on weaker oil prices.

Takeover target Oil Search gave Santos an extra week to complete due diligence for its proposed A$8.4 billion (S$8.38 billion) buyout on Monday.

Bucking the trend, gold stocks rose 1.3 per cent on strong bullion prices, with gold miners Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining gaining 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

In New Zealand, the benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.3 per cent to 13,245.22.

The top percentage losers on the main index were dairy firm A2 Milk Company, down 2.2 per cent, followed by Serko, losing 1.9 per cent.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was up 1.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.2 per cent.

REUTERS