Australia Stocks tumble on profit booking, coronavirus infections woes

The Australian share market finished session lower on Monday, 06 July 2020, snapping four day's of winning streak, amid fears of a resurgence of novel coronavirus infections domestically and some other countries. Meanwhile, selloff fuelled further on caution ahead to interest rate decisions by Reserve Bank of Australia. Most sectors finished lower, with losses from industrials, healthcare and mining stocks among the biggest weights on local equities

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined 43.27 points, or 0.71%, to 6,014.61. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 37.87 points, or 0.61%, to 6,125.86.

Risk aversion selloff triggered in the domestic stock market as a spike in domestic cases of the novel coronavirus forced fresh restrictions and renewed fears of further economic pain. The Australian state of Victoria prepared to close its border with neighboring New South Wales from Tuesday night for the first time in 100 years to contain a COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne. Victoria confirmed 182 cases over the weekend.

 

Shares of miners fell, as Brazilian mining giant, Vale said it expects iron ore prices to fall in the second half of the year partly because it aims to significantly ramp up production to meet its targets for the year (310-330mt). BlueScope Steel declined 3.25% after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating and cut price target on the stock

Construction firm ADBRI declined 5%, following a tumble of more than 25 per cent on Friday after multiple brokerages raised concerns over the company's loss of a lime supply contract with Alcoa. ADBRI has struggled on the market since the loss of a contract supplying lime to Alcoa (one of the world's largest producers of aluminium). This contract was worth ~A$70 million in revenues for the group.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6964 following a rise from levels around $0.684 in the previous trading week.

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