Australia: Shares fall on Omicron worries, drop in energy stocks

[BENGALURU] Australian shares fell on Tuesday, with energy and banking indexes leading the decline, as an Omicron-led surge in domestic Covid-19 cases and worries around tighter monetary policies globally weighed on markets.

The benchmark ASX 200 index slid 0.4 per cent to 7,417.60 points by 2336 GMT.

With Australia's total tally of infections surpassing one million on Monday - more than of which were in the past week alone - its government has vowed to "push through" the outbreak that has strained hospitals and supply chains.

Supermarkets and retailers in the country continued to face persistent supply chain constraints, which have threatened empty shelves for weeks to come.

Retail giants Woolworths and Coles lost about 1.3 per cent each. Poultry producer Inghams Group fell to its worst day since March last year, losing as much as 8.5 per cent, after saying its major Australian sites are facing significantly lower levels of staff availability.

The energy index was the worst performer on the benchmark, down as far as 1.4 per cent, after oil prices weakened on demand concerns.

Heavyweight banking stocks dropped nearly 1 per cent, with the "Big Four" banks declining between 0.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent.

Miners shed 0.8 per cent on weaker commodity prices, with index major Rio Tinto falling 0.3 per cent.

Rio Tinto followed Fortescue Metals in buying battery electric trains to transport its iron ore to help its decarbonisation strategy.

Tech stocks added 0.8 per cent, lifted by buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay's 2.7 per cent jump.

Gold stocks shrugged off weak bullion prices to rise over 1 per cent to eye their best day since New Year's eve.

Gold miner Northern Star Resources added 1.8 per cent to head for its biggest one-day jump since Dec 31, while Evolution Mining climbed 1.5 per cent.

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index traded down 0.6 per cent to 12,892.9.

Tourism Holdings was one of the worst performers on the bourse, shedding as much as 2.7 per cent to hit its lowest level in nearly two weeks.

REUTERS