AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

SYDNEY: Australian shares settled lower on Tuesday as rising coronavirus cases in the country's most populous state and simmering Sino-US tensions spooked investors.

The S&P/ASX 200 index finished 0.61% lower at 5,941.10, with the technology sector leading the retreat after US tech giants, including Amazon and Microsoft, fell overnight. The benchmark index gained almost 1% on Monday.

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, on Monday reported 14 new Covid-19 cases, on the heels of a surge in infections in neighbouring Victoria that forced it back into lockdown last week.

Technology stocks fell 4% to a near two-week low. Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay Ltd declined 7.23%, making it one of the top losers on the benchmark index, while Megaport Ltd lost 6.67%.

Gold stocks fell 2.32% as bullion prices were hit by a stronger dollar. Emerald Resources NL declined 7.94%, while Alacer Gold Corp shed 6.17%.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.52% to 11,494.1.

Among top gainers on the New Zealand benchmark, Sanford Ltd rose 4.43%, while Chorus Ltd added 3.85%.

"Market has V shape recovery (expectation) for Q3 and that is not going to happen with VIC (Victoria) in lockdown," said Mathan Somasundaram, market portfolio strategist at Blue Ocean Equities.

"If NSW (New South Wales) goes into lockdown, it will be a big downgrade cycle."

Weighing on investor sentiment, tensions grew between the United States and China. The United States on Monday rejected China's disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a move that Beijing criticised as inciting tensions in the region.

Comments

Comments are closed.