Australia: Shares slide as miners drag; New Zealand inches higher

[BENGALURU] Australian shares slipped on Tuesday, dragged by sharp losses in miners after a surge in Covid-19 cases in China weighed on iron ore prices, with weak commodity prices pressuring local energy and gold stocks further.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8 per cent at 7,090.7 points by 2340 GMT, retreating from a 1% gain made in the previous session.

"Markets remained in a risk-averse mood amid the continuing war in Ukraine and Covid-19-related lockdowns in China," Westpac analysts said in a note.

Australia on Monday imposed new sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs and business people over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the overnight Wall Street session ended on a grim note with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index leading losses as investors ditched tech and big growth names ahead of expected rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

That dragged the local tech index 1.2 per cent, with Australian shares of Block Inc dropping 5.7 per cent.

Miners fell 3.8 per cent, leading losses on the index, after steel prices hit two-week lows as surging Covid-19 cases in China - the world's biggest steel producer and metals consumer - fanned worries over the country's growth prospects.

Iron ore behemoth BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals slid between 3.6 per cent and 5.2 per cent.

Rio Tinto proposed after market closed on Monday to buy 49 per cent of Canada's Turquoise Hill it does not already own for about US$2.7 billion.

Oil and gold prices retreated after diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict calmed supply-disruption fears.

Energy stocks slid 2.9 per cent, with heavyweights Woodside Petroleum and Santos down 4.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.

Gold stocks dropped 3.6 per cent, with the country's largest gold miner Newcrest Mining falling 2.7 per cent, while St Barbara tumbled 4.1 per cent.

Financial stocks bucked the overall negative trend to rise about 1.4 per cent with the big four banks up nearly 1 per cent each.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index pared early losses to climb 0.14 per cent or to 11,821.67 points. Pushpay Holdings outperformed with a 6.9 per cent gain after forecasting a higher annual profit. REUTERS