Australia Stocks tumble on trade tensions, growth slowdown woes

Headline indices of the Australian share market tumbled on Monday, 10 December 2018, as risk aversion selloff triggered across the board, on worries over slowing global growth after the world's largest economies - the United States, China and Japan - all reporting weaker-than-expected data. Meanwhile, selloff pressure intensified on fears that a fresh flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing could quash any chances of a trade deal. Dampening the mood at the start of the week was news China's vice foreign minister has summoned the U.S. ambassador Terry Branstad in protest over the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co.'s chief financial officer and weak data on China's slowing economy. All ASX sectors lost ground, with technology, healthcare, financials, energy, and consumer staples issues being notable losers. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index tumbled 111 points, or 2%, to 5,570.50 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index retreated 113.28 points, or 2%, to 5,644.60 points.

Shares of technology issue tumbled the most in the ASX sectoral peers, with Wisetech Global and Afterpay Touch falling by more than 5%.

 

Shares of healthcare issue also suffered heavy losses, with benchmark CSL down nearly 3% and Cochlear losing 4%.

Shares of banks and financial stocks were down. National Australia Bank,ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank were lower in a range of 1% to 3%.

Shares of materials and resources were mostly lower, with Rio Tinto down 0.4% and Fortescue Metals down 0.5%, while BHP rose almost 1%.

Shares of energy players were down despite a more than 2% increase in crude oil prices Friday, with Woodside Petroleum lower by 0.5%. Santos and Oil Search fell almost 1% each.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar, seen as a proxy for China-related trades, fell against greenback on Monday. The Australian dollar was quoted at $0.7179, down from $0.7199 on Friday.

OFFSHORE MARKET: US stock market closed down on Friday, as a data showed that U.S. job growth accelerated much less than forecast in November, casting uncertainty over the pace of rate increases for next year. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 155,000 jobs in November after surging by a downwardly revised 237,000 jobs in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 558.72 points or 2.2% to 24,388.95. The S&P 500 slumped 62.87 points or 2.3% to 2,633.08, while the Nasdaq Composite plunged 219.01 points or 3.1% to 6,969.25.

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