Australia Market falls 0.1%

Headline indices of the Australia market closed lower on Monday, 24 September 2018, as risk sentiment was hurt by the fears of an escalation in the tariff war between the world's biggest economies after China called off planned trade talks with U.S. officials. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 7.68 points, or 0.12%, to 6,186.88 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 5.95 points, or 0.09%, higher at 6,299.49 points.

The U.S.-China trade war remained in focus Monday, with tariffs from both parties going into effect today. Washington had announced 10% duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports, which prompted Beijing to respond with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.

Shares in banks and financial players mixed, hurt by damaging testimony of a quasi-judicial inquiry, which has already exposed widespread wrongdoing in the financial sector. National Bank of Australia and ANZ were the best performers up 0.22% and 0.42%, respectively. Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped 0.8%, while Suncorp Group slipped 1%.

Shares of materials and resources were lower, following a drop in gold prices and renewed worries over US-China trade relations. Rio Tinto was down 1.22% at A$78.52, while South32 shares were down 1.28% at A$3.85 after being ordered to pay for ongoing healthcare of indigenous Colombian communities claiming health problems from a nearby open-cut nickel mine. BHP was up 0.74% to A$33.83.

Stocks of consumer staples were also under pressure, with Australia-listed shares of a2 Milk Company Ltd falling 3% to a near two-week low.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar declined against greenback and other major currencies on Monday. The Australian dollar was buying 72.65 US cents, from 72.89 US cents on Friday; 81.79 Japanese yen, from 82.23; 61.91 euro cents, from 61.88; 55.56 British pence, from 54.97; and 108.98 NZ cents, from 108.97.

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