Australia: Shares extend losses as miners plunge

AUSTRALIAN shares fell for a seventh straight session on Monday (Jun 20) to mark their longest losing streak since March 2020, as miners tumbled due to a sell-off in commodities over declining China demand and deepening fears of a global recession.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.64 per cent lower at 6,433.4, with the country’s 3 top miners losing roughly A$26.1 billion (S$25.2 billion) in market value.

Shares of the 3 mining behemoths - Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue - dropped between 5.1 and 8.6 per cent. The mining index tumbled 5.1 per cent, hitting its lowest since Dec 13 and extending its fall after last week’s 7.4 per cent drop.

Energy Stocks slid 5.2 per cent to be among the biggest laggards on falling oil prices, as concerns about slowing global economic growth and fuel demand outweighed worries about tightening supplies.

Heavyweights Woodside Energy Group and Santos declined nearly 5 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

Financials, however, climbed 0.55 per cent to break their 9-session losing streak, with the so called “Big Four” banks rising in a range of 0.3 to 1.2 per cent.

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Investors are now awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia minutes due on Tuesday for any interest rate policy cues, said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda.

In corporate news, building materials manufacturers Brickworks and Boral are cutting back operations, hiking prices and considering moving production offshore to manage a spike in power and gas bills. Shares of Brickworks closed 0.2 per cent higher, while those of Boral rose 0.75 per cent.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed almost flat 10,588.2. REUTERS