Australian shares drop on COVID-19 woes; RBA decision in focus

Serko

06/09/2021 02:09

Sept 6 (Reuters) - Australian stocks fell on Monday as
surging COVID-19 cases in the country dampened sentiment ahead
of the central bank's September policy meeting where it could
announce a decision on the tapering of its pandemic-era asset
purchases.
    The benchmark ASX 200 index  .AXJO  fell 1.1% to 7,442.6 by
0032 GMT.
    Uncertainty over the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA)
policy lingered, with analysts undecided on whether the RBA will
put off its tapering plans on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2Q43VA
    That piled on to the pressure already brought about by the
country continuing its fight with raging COVID-19 infections,
having reported 1,684 new cases on Sunday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Q60HG
    Among individual sectors and stocks, miners  .AXMM  fell
nearly 1%, with iron ore major Fortescue Metals  FMG.AX 
dropping 10.8% to be the top loser on both the benchmark and the
mining index.  IRONORE/ 
    The "Big Four" banks lost about 1% each, in line with the
broader financials index  .AXFJ  that headed for its worst
session in a week.
    The energy index  .AXEJ  lost the most on the benchmark,
shedding 2.2% on weaker oil prices.  O/R 
    Takeover target Oil Search  OSH.AX  gave Santos Ltd  STO.AX 
an extra week to complete due diligence for its proposed A$8.4
billion ($6.25 billion) buyout on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Q70J9
    Bucking the trend, gold stocks  .AXGD  rose 1.3% on strong
bullion prices, with gold miners Northern Star Resources
 NST.AX  and Newcrest Mining  NCM.AX  gaining 1.5% and 1.8%,
respectively.  GOL/ 
    In New Zealand, the benchmark NZX 50 index  .NZ50  fell 0.3%
to 13,245.22.
    The top percentage losers on the main index were dairy firm
A2 Milk Company Ltd  ATM.NZ , down 2.2%, followed by Serko Ltd
 SKO.NZ , losing 1.9%.
    Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei  .N225  was up 1.4%, while the S&P
500 E-minis futures  EScv1  were down 0.2%.

($1 = 1.3439 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Yamini C S in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((Yamini.CS@thomsonreuters.com;))
 
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