Australian stocks fell to 14-month high, dragged down by banks and tech

Technology index fell 1.2%

SYDNEY (medialnews) – Australian stocks slipped from a 14-month high early Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street, as technology and financials lagged in the larger local market.

The S & P / ASX 200 index fell 0.5% to 7,030.10 points at 12:30 GMT, after rising for five consecutive sessions to reach its highest level since February 24, 2020 on Monday (4/19/2021 ). The index fell more than 2.0 percent from a record high in February last year.

Overnight, all three major U.S. indices stabilized lower, dropping from record levels last week as investors awaited instructions from first-quarter corporate financial reports, while electric carmaker Tesla slumped more than 3.0%.

Read also: Wall Street slips records, Tesla shares fall

In other markets, the Japanese Nikkei was trading 1.73% lower on Tuesday, while E-mini S&P 500 index futures were up 0.17%.

In Australia, Afterpay was among the benchmark’s highest percentage gains, trading 2.6% more after it said it crawled US listings and reported a more than double jump in sales volume in the third trimester.

However, as cited by Reuters, Afterpay’s gains failed to push up the Australian tech index. The technology index fell 1.2%.

The mining sector was down about half a percent, with BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group each down about 0.2 percent.

Rio Tinto, the world’s largest iron ore miner, gained 0.8% after reporting a 7.0% increase in iron ore shipments in the March quarter from a year earlier.

Lynas Rare Earths lost as much as 4.0%, marking a percentage drop intraday the largest in nearly four weeks, after reporting a slight drop in quarterly rare earth production.

Financial stocks fell 0.6%, with major lenders from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. each having lost 0.4%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S & P / NZX 50 fell 1.0 percent to 12,641.10 points, the biggest drop in four weeks.

Also Read: UK stocks hit by profit taking, FTSE 100 index fell 0.28%
Also Read: Australian Stock Market Closed For 5 Consecutive Days

Translator: Apep Suhendar
Editor: Kelik Dewanto
COPYRIGHT © BETWEEN 2021