SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Australian shares extended losses for a third straight session on Monday, as deepening tensions with its largest trading partner China following a move by Beijing to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine imports rattled investors. The S&P/ASX 200 index settled 1.3% lower at 6,517.8, erasing as much as 0.6% gains earlier in the session. This was the benchmark's worst fall since Nov. 4.

But it posted its biggest-ever monthly gain in November, buoyed by optimism around a swift economic recovery after the US election outcome and Covid-19 vacine-related developments. Shares of Treasury Wines slumped up to 11.8% after it revealed plans to divert hundreds of thousands of cases of China-bound wine to other countries to avoid hefty tariffs.

Utilities and healthcare stocks helped New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index end 1% higher, its highest close in nearly two weeks. The bourse posted a second consecutive monthly gain.