Australian Market Sharply Lower, Down 2%

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, snapping the three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,400.00 level, with losses across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks.

The stocks were hammered after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs will be levied against major U.S. trading partners beginning Saturday, including Australia's major trading partner China.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 173.10 points or 2.03 percent to 8,359.20, after hitting a low of 8,358.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 177.70 points or 2.02 percent to 8,612.00. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is sliding almost 4 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping more than 3 percent. Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 2 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is slipping almost 2 percent and Beach energy is declining 2.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is sliding more than 5 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are declining more than 2 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is in a trading halt.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 8 percent after chief executive Terry Holohan stepped down with immediate effect, Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Westgold are tumbling more than 12 percent following the downward revision of its full-year production guidance after the ramp-up of two major mining assets was slower than planned.

Shares in Fisher & Paykel are slipping almost 6 percent after the medical devices company sounded a warning that US tariffs on Mexico will lead to investors costs increasing in the 2026 financial year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.612 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and into negative territory.

The major averages finished the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 337.47 points or 0.8 percent to 44,544.66, the S&P 500 fell 30.64 points or 0.5 percent to 6,040.53 and the Nasdaq dipped 54.31 points or 0.3 percent to 19,627.44.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved modestly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices settled lower Friday amid uncertainty about implementation of Trump's tariff plans on Canada and Mexico, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March fell $0.20 at $72.53 a barrel.