Australian, NZ shares drop on concerns over US-China truce

[BENGALURU] Australian shares closed lower on Tuesday, giving away some of the sharp gains made in the previous session on escalating concerns over whether the United States and China can resolve their deep trade differences before a 90-day deadline.

The fall was in line with Asian shares, which declined as a relief rally ran out of steam amid rising doubts over a possible resolution to the Sino-US trade war.

Broad-based losses pushed the S&P/ASX 200 index 1.01 per cent or 58.10 points lower to 5,713.10 at the close of trade.

The benchmark surged 1.8 per cent on Monday as investors around the globe cheered a provisional halt on further tariffs in the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

"The euphoria subsides and you've got more rational decision making in markets, particularly this week where we have a lot of risk events coming up," said Kyle Rodda, market analyst at IG Markets. Financial stocks led losses as they dropped 1.2 per cent to a one-week low, with the "Big four" banks losing between 0.9 to 1.4 per cent each.

Meanwhile, the metals and mining index declined 1.3 per cent.

The losses in miners were exacerbated by a dip in copper prices. Three-month LME copper slipped 0.6 per cent as of 0519 GMT.

Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd shed 2 per cent, while copper miner OZ Minerals Ltd tumbled 3.9 per cent.

Wholesale food distributor Metcash Ltd extended losses to finish 7.2 per cent lower and was the top percentage decliner.

The firm fell 5.1 per cent on Monday after saying it expected second half of 2019 earnings before tax to take a hit.

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.12 per cent or 10.33 points to finish the session at 8,865.76, snapping five sessions of gains.

Financials pulled the benchmark lower, with NZ listed shares of Australia and New Zealand banking Group sliding 1.5 per cent.

REUTERS