The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 131.70 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 8493.40 at 10.15am AEST on Tuesday as trading resumed after the King’s Birthday holiday. Banks, miners and technology stocks led the retreat, while a handful of defensive names pushed higher.
The sell-off came after global equities were repriced on fears the US Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates by the end of the year. Friday’s US jobs report smashed market expectations and set off a Wall Street rout that spread through Asia, even as the Nasdaq recovered 0.9 per cent on Monday after tumbling more than 4 per cent on Friday.
On the Australian market, Xero fell 1.5 per cent, WiseTech Global dropped 3.4 per cent and Megaport sank 4.7 per cent. The big miners were hit just as hard: BHP and Rio Tinto each fell 3.5 per cent and Fortescue lost 3.2 per cent. Gold producers also slid, with Northern Star down 5.4 per cent, Newmont off 6 per cent and Genesis Minerals falling 7.4 per cent.
The major banks were no refuge. Commonwealth Bank fell 1.3 per cent, ANZ slipped 2.1 per cent, Westpac lost 2.3 per cent and National Australia Bank declined 2.7 per cent. That weakness sat in sharp contrast to consumer staples, where Woolworths added 1.4 per cent and Coles rose 2.4 per cent. Woodside Energy edged up 0.7 per cent, another sign that investors were still willing to buy into more defensive parts of the market.
One of the session’s more striking moves came in Superloop, which fell 1.1 per cent after chief executive Paul Tyler sold 500,000 shares worth $1.79 million to meet tax obligations linked to performance rights and share options. James Hardie slipped 0.3 per cent, while the company has said it will vigorously defend itself against a shareholder class action in the Supreme Court of Victoria over alleged misleading earnings forecasts.
Elsewhere, Qube rose 0.2 per cent after the PNG competition regulator backed Macquarie’s $11.7 billion planned takeover of the company, and Coast Entertainment advanced 6 per cent. The key question for investors now is whether Tuesday’s opening loss turns into a deeper reset, or whether the market steadies as Wall Street and rate expectations settle again.
