The sharemarket erased its year-to-date gains on Friday, as fears that higher tariffs on US imports from China could hit demand for Australian commodities pushed the bourse lower and technology stocks sold off.
The S&P/ASX 200 rounded off earnings season on a negative note, slipping 1.2 per cent, or 95.8 points, to 8172.4. It posted its second consecutive month of losses, tumbling 4.2 per cent in February. The All Ordinaries fell 1.2 per cent. Ten of the main index’s 11 sectors were lower, with the technology and materials sectors leading losses.
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that tariffs would be imposed on Mexico and Canada next week, as planned – and surprised the market with a further 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods. That drove the Australian dollar to its lowest level in almost one month, towards US62¢, as the US dollar surged.
Australia’s major miners suffered, amid concerns that the tariffs on Chinese steel could hit iron ore demand. BHP shed 2.5 per cent to $39.04, Rio Tinto 2.9 per cent to $113.70 and Fortescue 3.7 per cent to $16.51.
Elsewhere, ASX technology stocks extended losses, selling off after chip-making giant Nvidia’s 8.5 per cent fall in US trading. The sector was 2.9 per cent lower. Logistics giant WiseTech hit its lowest level in seven months, tumbling 4.8 per cent to $89.50.
The risk-off sentiment put bitcoin, which slipped below $US80,000 on Friday, on track for its biggest monthly loss since June 2022.
Stocks in focus
In corporate news, Star Entertainment’s board has said it isn’t sure if it can continue to trade beyond Friday, saying a range of conditions needed to be met on Friday for the company to remain operational. The casino operator slumped 15.4 per cent to 11¢.
Endeavour Group slumped 7.2 per cent to $4.17 after its interim profit fell 15.1 per cent, driving the retailer and hotel operator to lower its dividend to 12.5¢.
Harvey Norman lifted 2.6 per cent to $5.22 after half-year sales revenue hit $4.8 billion, boosted by higher revenues from franchises across its portfolio and a slew of international store openings.
TPG Telecom lifted 7.2 per cent to $23.30 after reporting a 3.4 per cent rise in underlying earnings to $2 billion. The country’s third-largest telco said the number of mobile customers was rising quickly owing to a new network-sharing agreement with Optus.
Market darling Life360 advanced 7.2 per cent to $23.30 after beating its earnings guidance. It is approaching 80 million global users for its popular family-tracking app.
Vista Group rallied 16.4 per cent to $3.40 after earnings soared in 2024, as the data analytics provider reported a jump in clients transitioning to its cloud solutions.
And Johns Lyng Group dived 10.3 per cent after the company went ex-dividend on Friday.