ASX slides more than 1% as Coles and Woolworths drop 3%, major lenders fall
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The news: The Australian market was down more than 1% after morning trade, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight, as trade tensions escalated following US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
The numbers: The ASX 200 index was down 1.2% at 12:50pm AEDT, with all 11 sector in red.
Staples, down 3.3%, was the worst performing sector, dragged down by its two largest stocks Coles (-3.5%) and Woolworths (-3.2%). The sector's third largest company Treasury Wine Estates also lost 4.4%.
Financials shed 2%, with big four banks Westpac (-1.7%), National Australia Bank (-1.7%), Commonwealth Bank (-1.5%) and ANZ (-1.3%) all falling. The market's largest listed insurance groups QBE (-2.8%), Suncorp (-1.4%) and Insurance Group Australia (-0.1%) also fell on potential costs from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Materials was the best performing sector, down 0.1%, as mining giants Rio Tinto (0.8%) and BHP (0.5%) rallied after days of declines amid tumbling iron ore prices. Rival iron ore miner Fortescue lowered 0.5%. The selloff eased as the world's largest iron ore importer China set its 2025 economic growth goal at 5%, raising expectations for new economic stimulus measures, as the country grapples with a response to fresh US tariffs.
