Australia: Shares extend losses on US-China tensions; Afterpay soars

[BENGALURU] Australian shares fell nearly 1 per cent on Monday, extending the previous session's sell-off, as rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak dented sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.9 per cent to 5,200.4 points by 0101 GMT, pulled down by energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark tumbled 5 per cent on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on China in response to its handling of the pandemic.

Adding to the jitters, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday there was "a significant amount of evidence" that the new coronavirus emerged from a Chinese laboratory.

On Monday, energy stocks fell as much as 4.3 per cent, weighed down by weaker crude prices. Cooper Energy and Whitehaven Coal were among the top drags on the sub-index, losing between 1.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent.

Financial stocks dropped 0.8 per cent, with the 'Big Four' banks down between 0.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent.

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Shares of Westpac Banking Corp, the country's second-largest bank, wavered between positive and negative territory after the lender deferred a decision on its interim dividend and reported a 70 per cent drop in first-half cash earnings.

All major sub-indexes on the Australian benchmark traded lower, except gold stocks, which soared about 5 per cent.

Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay was the top percentage gainer in the benchmark index, surging nearly 36 per cent after it unveiled Tencent Holdings as a shareholder at the end of last week.

The number of issues on the ASX that advanced were 398 while 801 declined as a 0.5-to-1 ratio favoured decliners. There were 104 new highs and 104 new lows.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.41 per cent to 10,301.5.

SkyCity Entertainment Group was poised for a second straight day of declines, while domestic shares of Westpac Banking Corp traded 4 per cent lower.

REUTERS