ASX lowers as tech stocks sell off; gold miners extend gains
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More news: Australian shares opened lower this morning, tracking losses in the US and Europe overnight, as eight of the 11 sectoral indices dropped into negative territory.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 44.8 points, or 0.50%, to 8,855.8 at 10:50am AEST.
Technology stocks (-2.2%) were the worst performers, as Afterpay owner Block (-4.5%) and accounting platform Xero (-3.4%) fell.
Origin Energy (-3.4%), Sonic Healthcare (-3.4%) and Whitehaven Coal (-2.4%) also lowered as they traded ex-dividend.
Meanwhile, gold miners continued their recent rally after gold prices touched a new all-time high overnight. Regis Resources (+2.7%), Bellevue Gold (+2.3%) and Vault Minerals (+2.2%) led those gains.
Australian shares to fall as Trump tariff uncertainty weighs on Wall Street
The news: Australian shares are poised to open lower after US stocks closed sharply lower overnight, as a federal appeals court ruled that most of US President Donald Trump's new tariffs are illegal.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 37 points to 8,841
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.55%, S&P 500 down 0.69% and Nasdaq down 0.82%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.70%, DAX down 2.29% and FTSE 100 down 0.87%
- Spot gold: up 1.64% to USD3,533 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.06% at USD69.10/bbl and US WTI up 2.52% to USD65.62/bbl
- AUD: down 0.62% to 65.12 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 2.05% to USD111,494.
The context: The appeals court ruling will see the US tariffs remain in place until 14 October while the Trump administration considers an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Uncertainty trickled through equity markets as investors returned from the Labor Day public holiday.
The world's largest company Nvidia extended its recent selloff, dropping a further 2% and taking market cap losses to around $522 billion over the last four sessions.
Alphabet shares moved in the other direction, surging 7.7% in after-hours trading, after a federal judge ruled that Google will not have to sell its Chrome web browser or Android.
Elsewhere, European stocks also saw broad declines, while gold briefly hit an all-time high.
