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On the local bourse, the mining sector was the worst hit, its share tumbling 2.5 per cent, after the price of iron ore fell 4 per cent in Singapore to $US110.20 a tonne on the April contract. Market heavyweights BHP (down 2.6 per cent), Fortescue (down 3.5 per cent), and Rio Tinto (down 3.6 per cent) all fell.
Brent crude, which fell 1.3 per cent to $US81.86 a barrel, weighed heavily on the energy sector (down 2.1 per cent). Woodside (down 2.6 per cent), Santos (down 1.8 per cent) and Ampol (down 1.8 per cent) all retreated.
Profit takers stepped in after the shares of the big four banks reached record highs on Friday. The financials sector was down 2.2 per cent, led by Westpac (down 3.2 per cent), NAB (down 3.1 per cent), CBA (down 2.7 per cent) and ANZ (down 1.9 per cent).
Meridian Energy (down 8.5 per cent) was the worst performing stock, followed by Northern Star Resources (down 4 per cent) and Resmed (down 3.7 per cent).
The lowdown
Morgans investment adviser Andrew Look said the ASX followed the lead of Wall Street in pulling back.
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“The Australian market has traded lower on the back of the US markets doing the same over the weekend on no material news,” Look said.
“We saw US equity markets retreat but not before both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touched fresh intraday record peaks.”
Investors are awaiting the key US February consumer price index report, to be released on Tuesday 11.30pm AEDT, which is expected to show inflation is being tamed.
The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index briefly hit record intraday highs Friday, but started to lose steam late morning.
Stocks had opened higher after data showed US job growth accelerated in February, with non-farm payrolls increasing by 275,000 jobs against an expected 200,000 rise. January jobs numbers were revised lower.
February consumer price and retail sales data this week will offer more cues on the prospects for potential rate cuts.
On Thursday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was “not far” from gaining the confidence inflation is falling sufficiently to begin cutting rates.
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“Most households continue to be able to meet their debt servicing and other essential spending commitments, although many have had to make adjustments to their finances in a period of higher inflation and interest rates,” Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes from its March 6 meeting showed. “However, hardship applications had risen materially over the past year.”
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