AGL 39.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.85 (-2.13%)
AIRLINK 127.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.76 (-1.36%)
BOP 6.78 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.44%)
CNERGY 4.64 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (3.34%)
DCL 8.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.7%)
DFML 41.11 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (0.71%)
DGKC 81.99 Increased By ▲ 1.03 (1.27%)
FCCL 33.10 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (1.01%)
FFBL 73.35 Decreased By ▼ -1.08 (-1.45%)
FFL 11.76 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.17%)
HUBC 109.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-0.22%)
HUMNL 14.25 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (3.64%)
KEL 5.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.69%)
KOSM 7.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.55%)
MLCF 39.03 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.11%)
NBP 63.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
OGDC 192.56 Decreased By ▼ -2.13 (-1.09%)
PAEL 25.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.43%)
PIBTL 7.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.35%)
PPL 153.45 Decreased By ▼ -2.00 (-1.29%)
PRL 25.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-1.4%)
PTC 17.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.14%)
SEARL 77.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.85 (-1.08%)
TELE 7.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.30 (-3.82%)
TOMCL 33.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-1.48%)
TPLP 8.40 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TREET 16.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.92%)
TRG 56.40 Decreased By ▼ -1.82 (-3.13%)
UNITY 27.50 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.04%)
WTL 1.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-2.16%)
BR100 10,476 Increased By 30.5 (0.29%)
BR30 31,021 Decreased By -168.2 (-0.54%)
KSE100 97,785 Decreased By -13.5 (-0.01%)
KSE30 30,486 Increased By 5.6 (0.02%)
Markets

Australian shares end lower as virus surge raises economic growth worries

  • The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 0.8% at 7,286 points, after falling as much as 1.4%
Published July 19, 2021

Australian shares closed lower on Monday, with losses seen across major sub-indexes, as a surge in Delta variant cases in the country and other Asian nations raised concerns about economic recovery.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 0.8% at 7,286 points, after falling as much as 1.4%.

Australian authorities said Victoria state will extend a COVID-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday, while other Asian countries also struggled to curb the virus, denting markets already worried about global growth and high inflation.

The metals and mining index, down 2.7%, was the biggest drag on the benchmark index. Weak iron ore prices weighed on the sector. Heavyweights BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue fell between 2.6% and 1.4%.

Australia shares close at lowest level in 2 weeks on lockdown extension fears

A 2.1% slip on the ASX 200 Energy index also pulled the markets lower. Oil prices stumbled more than 1% on OPEC+ group of producers agreeing to boost supply.

Oil Search Ltd, down 4.9%, was the biggest loser on the sub-index, followed by Santos Ltd that fell 2.4%.

The "Big Four" banks shed between 0.5% and 1.2%.

Health stocks, however, closed up 1.6% as a firm US dollar aided export-reliant stocks. Medical devices maker PolyNovo added 3.4% and ResMed climbed 2.4%.

Investors' focus is now on the Australian manufacturing data, which is due on Wednesday.

"Australian PMIs on Wednesday should remain strong, but with sweeping lockdowns in NSW and Melbourne, any signs of viral infection will not be kind to the AUD or local equities," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA said in a note.

Amongst individual stocks, software maker Altium declined 3.8% after US peer Autodesk Inc ended takeover talks.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended down 0.2% at 12,652.09 points.

Comments

Comments are closed.