Australian shares end lower as virus surge raises economic growth worries

ResMed

19/07/2021 08:42

* Miners slump to worst session in 2 months
    * Altium falls 3.8% as takeover talks with Autodesk cease
    * Energy stocks drop as oil prices sink

 (Updates to close)
    By Savyata  Mishra
    July 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed lower on
Monday, with losses seen across major sub-indexes, as a surge in
Delta variant cases in the country and other Asian nations
raised concerns about economic recovery.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  ended down 0.8% at 7,286
points, after falling as much as 1.4%. 
    Australian authorities said Victoria state will extend a
COVID-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday, while other Asian countries
also struggled to curb the virus, denting markets already
worried about global growth and high inflation.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OU0JD
 MKTS/GLOB 
    The metals and mining index  .AXMM , down 2.7%, was the
biggest drag on the benchmark index. Weak iron ore prices
weighed on the sector. Heavyweights BHP Group  BHP.AX , Rio
Tinto  RIO.AX  and Fortescue  FMG.AX  fell between 2.6% and 1.4%
    A 2.1% slip on the ASX 200 Energy index  .AXEJ  also pulled
the markets lower. Oil prices stumbled more than 1% on OPEC+
group of producers agreeing to boost supply.  O/R 
    Oil Search Ltd  OSH.AX , down 4.9%, was the biggest loser on
the sub-index, followed by Santos Ltd  STO.AX  that fell 2.4%. 
    The "Big Four" banks shed between 0.5% and 1.2%.
    Health stocks  .AXHJ , however, closed up 1.6% as a firm
U.S. dollar aided export-reliant stocks. Medical devices maker
PolyNovo  PNV.AX  added 3.4% and ResMed  RMD.AX  climbed 2.4%.
 USD/ 
    Investors' focus is now on the Australian manufacturing
data, which is due on Wednesday. 
    "Australian PMIs on Wednesday should remain strong, but with
sweeping lockdowns in NSW and Melbourne, any signs of viral
infection will not be kind to the AUD or local equities,"
Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA said in a note.
    Amongst individual stocks, software maker Altium  ALU.AX 
declined 3.8% after U.S. peer Autodesk Inc  ADSK.O  ended
takeover talks.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2OV0YO
    In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  ended
down 0.2% at 12,652.09 points.


($1 = 1.3510 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
 ((Savyata.mishra@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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