Australia: Shares post biggest drop in 6 weeks as commodity stocks weigh

AUSTRALIAN shares posted their biggest drop in six weeks on Monday, as commodity stocks dragged the resource-heavy bourse lower due to a slump in gold and iron ore prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.9 per cent to 7,049 by 0053 GMT, also hitting its lowest level since Aug 15. It ended 0.02 per cent higher on Friday.

The gold sub-index led losses, dropping 3 per cent to hit its lowest levels since July 28, as a strong US dollar hurt bullion prices.

Gold miners Predictive Discovery and Westgold Resources were the top losers on the sub-index, down 7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.

Following suit, domestic miners retreated 1.4 per cent and were set for their worst day since Aug 2, as demand woes in China kept iron ore prices at bay.

Among individual stocks, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals lost more than 1.7 per cent, each.

Interest rate-sensitive technology stocks slid 1.9 per cent, tracking their US peers lower after a broad sell-off on Wall Street on Friday led by mega-caps.

Computershare and Technologyone were the top laggards on the sub-index, down 0.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

However, shares of aerial imagery firm Nearmap Ltd jumped 4.6 per cent after it agreed to an A$1.06 billion (S$1.02 billion) takeover offer from private equity firm Thoma Bravo. 

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Australia: Shares climb for fifth straight week

Investors keenly look to US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole central bankers’ symposium on Friday for clues on future rate hikes and near-term policy outlook.

Energy stocks slipped 0.3 per cent with the country’s biggest fuel supplier Ampol shedding 0.8 per cent, even as the company said it reported its highest ever half-year profit while setting a record dividend.

Heavyweight financials lost 0.8 per cent, with the country’s so-called ‘Big Four’ banks tumbling between 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent.

Bucking the trend, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index jumped 0.3 per cent to 11,716.99. REUTERS