Australia’s ASX 200 fell 29 points, or 0.3%, to close at 8,787 on Tuesday, extending its losing streak to a fourth session and erasing early gains as U.S. stock futures slumped on the back of a Wall Street tech sell-off and rising bond yields. The benchmark index touched its lowest level in more than a week, with investors turning cautious ahead of Wednesday’s domestic CPI release and labor market data later in the week—both viewed as pivotal for the Reserve Bank’s next policy decision after it left the cash rate unchanged last week.
Losses were broad-based, led by electronic technology, producer manufacturing, logistics, and consumer-related stocks. Viva Energy fell 3% after confirming its Geelong refinery will restart this week following April’s fire, but will run without its alkylation unit until 2027, constraining gasoline production. Mining stocks also dragged on the index, with Northern Star down 2.8%, Evolution Mining off 2.2%, and Fortescue slipping 1.5%. In contrast, the four major banks gained between 0.4% and 0.9%, helping to limit the market’s overall decline.
