Australia Market tumbles 1.7%

Headline indices of the Australian share market tumbled on Tuesday, 13 November 2018, following a tech-led slump on Wall Street overnight, with all major sectors in the red led by banking, health and tech stocks. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined 101.90 points, or 1.72%, at 5,839.40 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 100.71 points, or 1.67%, to 5,926.50 points.

Shares of tech-sector declined on following heavy selling in US technology companies after deteriorating outlook for iPhone sales.

Financials were also lower, with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking were lower in a range of 1% to 2%. Westpac, which went ex-dividend, was lost more than 2%. Suncorp Group declined almost 2% after insurer has postponed the targeted close of the A$725 million sale of its Australian life insurance business to Japan's Dai-ichi Life, citing the timing of regulatory approvals.

Shares of materials companies were down, with heavyweight BHP Billiton, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto lost in a range of 1% to 2%. Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining were lower by more than 1% after gold prices slipped to a five-week low.

Shares of energy companies declined, after crude oil prices fell for the eleventh straight session overnight. WTI crude for December delivery fell $0.26 or 0.4% to $59.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing below $60 a barrel for the first time since February 2018. Woodside Petroleum, Santos, and Oil Search were up in range of 1% to 3%.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar was lower against greenback and other major currencies on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was quoted at $0.7177, down from $0.7217 on Monday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: US stocks closed in negative territory on Monday, weighed by a notable drop in shares of Apple after iPhone parts supplier Lumentum cut its fiscal second quarter guidance, adding to recent concerns about iPhone demand. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 602.12 points, or 2.32%, to 25,387.18, the S&P 500 lost 54.79 points, or 1.97%, to 2,726.22 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 206.03 points, or 2.78%, to 7,200.87.

European share market also closed down on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively. The German DAX Index plunged by 1.8%.

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