Australia Market closes lower after US banks failure

Australia stock market sank deeper on Monday, 13 March 2023, with shares of financials and tech stocks led losses, as concerns over the U.S. financial system contagion fears grew after tech-focused U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank collapsed late last week.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined 35.84 points, or 0.5%, to 7,108.85. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 37.20 points, or 0.51%, to 7,311.02.

The top performing stocks in the S&P/ASX 200 Index index were CAPRICON METALS and RAMELIUS RESOURCES, up 15% and 10.16% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NICKEL INDUSTRIES and PERPETUAL, down 5.24% and 4.88% respectively.

Total 10 of 11 sectors were lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Energy was worst performing sector, falling 3.36%, followed by materials (down 3.1%), financial (down 2.8%), information technology (down 2.2%), and A-REIT (down 1.8%) sectors. Utilities was the best performing sector, gaining +0.61%.

Shares of financials tumbled, with the "Big Four" lenders losing between 0.4% and 1.9%. The country's prudential regulator said it was seeking more information from Australian banks regarding any impact from the collapse.

Shares of materials and resources were higher on strong iron ore prices. BHP jumped 1.8% to $45.83. Gold miner Evolution Mining was up 1.1% to $2.80 and Northern Star Resources jumped by 5% to $11.08, as SVB's collapse sparked a global flight to safety, sending gold prices surging.

Tech stocks fell, in line with U.S. peers on Friday amid risks from the SVB's failure.

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