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Australian, NZ shares drop on concerns over U.S.-China truce

Published 04/12/2018, 05:01 pm
Updated 04/12/2018, 05:10 pm
© Reuters.  Australian, NZ shares drop on concerns over U.S.-China truce
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* Caution returns to ASX after Monday's sharp rise

* Financial stocks lead losses to hit a one-week low

* NZ snaps five session of gains (Updates to close)

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed lower on Tuesday, giving away some of the sharp gains made in the previous session on escalating concerns over whether the United States and China can resolve their deep trade differences before a 90-day deadline.

The fall was in line with Asian shares, which declined as a relief rally ran out of steam amid rising doubts over a possible resolution to the Sino-U.S. trade war. MKTS/GLOB

Broad-based losses pushed the S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO 1.01 percent or 58.10 points lower to 5,713.10 at the close of trade.

The benchmark surged 1.8 percent on Monday as investors around the globe cheered a provisional halt on further tariffs in the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

"The euphoria subsides and you've got more rational decision making in markets, particularly this week where we have a lot of risk events coming up," said Kyle Rodda, market analyst at IG Markets.

Financial stocks .AXFJ led losses as they dropped 1.2 percent to a one-week low, with the 'Big four' banks losing between 0.9 to 1.4 percent each.

Meanwhile, the metals and mining index .AXMM declined 1.3 percent.

The losses in miners were exacerbated by a dip in copper prices. Three-month LME copper CMCU3 slipped 0.6 percent as of 0519 GMT. MET/L

Global miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX shed 2 percent, while copper miner OZ Minerals Ltd OZL.AX tumbled 3.9 percent.

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Wholesale food distributor Metcash Ltd MTS.AX extended losses to finish 7.2 percent lower and was the top percentage decliner.

The firm fell 5.1 percent on Monday after saying it expected second half of 2019 earnings before tax to take a hit. BUZZ

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.12 percent or 10.33 points to finish the session at 8,865.76, snapping five sessions of gains.

Financials pulled the benchmark lower, with NZ listed shares of Australia and New Zealand banking Group ANZ.NZ sliding 1.5 percent.

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