Banks, miners drag Aussie stocks lower; Mideast tensions loom
Australian shares slipped on Monday, pressured by banks and miners, as cautious investors braced for possible Iranian retaliation against the US attacks on nuclear sites, fuelling concerns over global growth and inflation.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7% to 8,446.0 points by 0057 GMT.
The benchmark had ended 0.2% lower on Friday.
Iran vowed to defend itself after the US dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs onto the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site, while its parliament approved a move to close the Strait of Hormuz, which handles nearly a quarter of global oil shipments.
'The first moves will be reactive, possibly knee-jerk and out of fear: a typical 'shoot first and ask questions later' approach,' Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst with capital.com, said.
He wondered if Iran would retaliate by choking off oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra supported the US strike on Iran and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.
Energy stocks gained 0.5%, tracking oil prices, which jumped to a five-month high as Washington's weekend move to join Israel in attacking Iran stoked supply worries.
Woodside and its smaller peer Santos rose 0.6% and 1.3%, respectively.
Banks dropped 0.6% to drag the benchmark lower.
Australian shares rise on the back of banks, energy stocks
The 'Big Four' banks slipped between 0.7% and 1.6%. Miners fell 0.9% on weaker iron ore prices as demand continued to battle a persistent slump in China's property market. BHP and Rio Tinto lost 1.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
In company news, Metcash rose as much as 5.4% to its highest in more than a year after the wholesale distributor's full-year net profit attributable jumped 10%.
The stock was the top gainer on ASX 200.
Markets now await local consumer price index data later this week for further cues into the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate trajectory.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.2% to 12,544.73 points.
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