Jan 19 (Reuters) – Australian shares fell on Monday after a five-session winning run, with financials leading losses, while market focus turned to a key monthly jobs report and quarterly production results of blue-chip miners this week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 8,877.4 by 0017 GMT after rising 2.1% last week in its strongest performance since late November.
The weak start came as U.S. stock futures slid after President Donald Trump threatened to slap extra tariffs on eight European countries until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, stoking geopolitical tensions.
In Australia, investors are awaiting the December jobs data, due on Thursday, for clues on the central bank’s future interest rate path.
Markets are currently pricing in around a 25% chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia could increase its 3.6% cash rate by a quarter point on February 3.
Financials slipped 0.6%, with the so-called “Big-Four” banks losing between 0.6% and 0.8%. The sub-index had notched its best day in more than three weeks on Friday.
A slew of upbeat economic data has signalled a “higher-for-longer” interest rate environment, which is traditionally considered beneficial for banks but could also lower lending volumes and trigger credit risks.
Technology stocks fell 1.3%, while healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks slipped 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
Bucking the trend, gold stocks jumped nearly 2% as bullion prices rose. Sector heavyweights Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources rose more than 2% each.
The gains in gold stocks helped the broader mining sub-index rise 0.1%. The sub-index had logged its strongest weekly gain in seven weeks last week, helped by record runs in copper and gold prices.
Rio Tinto rose 0.1%, while BHP fell 0.1%, ahead of their quarterly production results this week.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.7%, or 101.09 points, to 13,617.01. (Reporting by Jasmeen Ara Shaikh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
