Australia: Shares end at 1-week low as global equity sell-off weighs

[BENGALURU] Australian shares closed at a 1-week low on Monday (Mar 7), as a global equity sell-off due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis dragged financials and technology stocks and outweighed sharp gains in the energy and mining sectors.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 1 per cent lower at 7,038.60 to mark a second straight session of loss.

Fears of a US and European ban on Russian oil triggered a sharp rise in crude prices to their highest since 2008, raising worries of higher global inflation and a complicated policy landscape for central banks.

Financials slumped 1.6 per cent in their fourth straight day of losses, touching their lowest level since Jan 27.

"European and EM (emerging markets) banks are facing elevated economic risk and that will weigh on banks globally," said Mathan Somasundaram, chief executive of Deep Data Analytics.

The country's 3 largest lenders dropped between 1.2 per cent and 2 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia closed flat.

The technology sub-index slipped 4.7 per cent, with ASX-listed shares of Block leading the declines with a 10.3 per cent plunge.

The sharp losses more than countered gains stemming from firmer commodity prices.

The Australian metals and mining sub-index was up by 1.4 per cent. Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group added 1.8 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

Domestic energy stocks jumped 5.3 per cent and hit a 2-year high.

Major oil and gas explorers Woodside Petroleum and Santos surged 9.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively.

Firm bullion prices lifted gold stocks by 5.4 per cent, with Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining gaining 6.1 per cent and 5.2 per cent.

Among individual shares, Qantas slid 7.9 per cent.

Power producer AGL Energy fell 1.8 per cent after it rejected a sweetened A$8.25 apiece takeover bid from a Brookfield-led consortium.

Rio Tinto fell slightly after it was fined by Australian authorities for breaching the country's continuous disclosure laws.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.9 per cent to 11,913.27.

Dairy firm a2 Milk dropped 2.2 per cent, while Air New Zealand lost 3.6 per cent. REUTERS