The ASX 200 fell 77 points, or 0.9%, to close at 8,673 on Tuesday, extending last week’s decline and marking its lowest level since early July. Risk sentiment weakened as U.S. equity futures retreated and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed to around 5%, its highest point since 2007, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where markets are leaning toward a 25 bp rate hike.
Domestically, traders are now pricing in an 85% probability that the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise rates later this month, with Governor Bullock expected to signal that further tightening may be required to bring inflation under control.
In China, Australia’s key trading partner, August data painted a mixed picture: retail sales growth slowed and unemployment edged higher, even as industrial production showed improvement.
Losses on the local market were broad-based, led by healthcare, non-energy minerals, and financials, while consumer-related sectors provided some limited support. The big four banks declined between 0.4% and 1.6%, with Macquarie Group down 2.8% and BHP Group off 2.4%.
Gold miners also weakened as bullion prices slipped, with Northern Star Resources falling 2.4% and Evolution Mining down 3.4%.
