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    ASX 200 slips as Australian shares end lower on tech sell-off, escalating tensions with China

    Synopsis

    The S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.5 per cent to close at 7,061.70, after three straight sessions of gains.

    australian sharesGetty Images
    Financial stocks dropped 0.7 per cent, with National Australia Bank sliding 3 per cent, despite posting 95 per cent surge in cash profit for the half year.
    Australian shares fell on Thursday, dragged down by a sell-off in tech shares, while the country's escalating tensions with China and fresh coronavirus curbs in Sydney also weighed on investor sentiment.

    The S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.5 per cent to close at 7,061.70, after three straight sessions of gains.

    Technology stocks fell 3.6 per cent, mirroring overnight Nasdaq losses, after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested that interest rates might need to rise in an overheating economy.

    Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay led tech losses, plunging 7 per cent.

    Aerial imagery tech firm Nearmap Ltd was the top percentage loser on the benchmark, plunging over 23.3 per cent after it said a patent infringement complaint was filed in a U.S. District Court over the company's roof-estimation technology.

    "We have seen more declines in the tech space today because of what is going on in the U.S. economy at the moment, with stocks like Afterpay, Xero and SEEK reacting the most," said Dale Raynes, associate director at CPS Capital.

    In the latest setback for Sino-Australia relations, China "indefinitely" suspended all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.

    "Both equities and the Australian dollar have fallen on this news, with Sino-Australia relations a definite sell on rallies," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific, OANDA.

    Travel and leisure stocks, including Qantas Airways , slid as officials reinstate social-distancing measures across greater Sydney after the detection of a new locally transmitted COVID-19 case.

    Financial stocks dropped 0.7 per cent, with National Australia Bank sliding 3 per cent, despite posting 95 per cent surge in cash profit for the half year.

    Miners, on the other hand, gained 0.9 per cent boosted by strong copper and iron ore prices, with sector heavyweights BHP Group and Rio Tinto rising 2.1 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.8 per cent to finish the session at 12,751.67.



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    (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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