Australia Market extends losses on trade worries

Headline indices of the Australia market were lower on Thursday, 06 September 2018, as investor appetite for riskier assets hurt by following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight amid continuing worries over global trade tensions and emerging market woes. Most of ASX sectors declined, with shares of materials, energy, healthcare, tech, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary issues being notable losers. In late-afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 67.34 points, or 1.08%, at 6,163.10 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 68.58 points, or 1.08%, at 6,270.60 points.

Trade-related concerns weighed on the market, with the U.S. and Canada set to restart high-stakes efforts to resolve differences as they work toward recasting the North American Free Trade Agreement. Bilateral trade discussions have been tense at times, with President Donald Trump threatening over the Labor Day weekend to move forward without Canada if terms can't be agreed upon. On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated the country's view that no Nafta is better than a bad Nafta deal for Canadians, and that's what we are going to stay with.

The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China could also intensify this week, with President Donald Trump reportedly saying over the weekend that he is ready to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as soon as the public comment period ends on Thursday.

Shares of materials and resources companies were mostly higher. Fortescue Metals rose more than 1% and Rio Tinto added 0.5%, while BHP Billiton fell almost 2%.

Shares of banks were lower. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking were down in a range of 0.3% to 0.6%.

Shares of energy sector were lower after a fall in crude oil prices. WTI crude for October delivery tumbled $1.15 or 1.65% to $68.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil Search dropped 1%, Woodside Petroleum 1%, and Santos 0.5%.

Among individual stocks, Sigma Healthcare shares were down more than 7% after pharmaceutical supplier's reported a nearly 52% fall in first-half profit due to restructuring costs and lower revenue.

Shares in GrainCorp were up 1.1% as an improved full year earnings guidance from country's biggest listed bulk grain handler was offset by its expectations for a "considerable decline" in grain production in eastern Australia in 2018/19.

Telstra was up 2.8% after trimming its 2018/19 earnings guidance because a lower than expected number of NBN customers are available for connection.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar rose against greenback and other major currencies on Thursday. The Aussie dollar was quoted at $0.7203 on Thursday, up from $0.7174 on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed softer on Wednesday, amid ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and its key partners. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 22.51 points or 0.1% to 25,974.99, while the Nasdaq tumbled 96.07 points or 1.2% to 7,995.17 and the S&P 500 fell 8.12 points or 0.3% to 2,888.60.

The major European stock markets ended down on Wednesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1%, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively.

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