By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 33.8 points or 0.46% to 7252.2 on Tuesday, recovering from 7-week lows touched during intraday trade as risk sentiment soured after the highly contagious coronavirus Delta variant triggered fresh lockdowns in Victoria and South Australia.
In local policy news, Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest meeting minutes showed that officials agreed to continue purchasing government bonds at a reduced rate after September until at least November, while maintaining the cash rate at 0.1%. However, some analysts expect policymakers to reverse the taper decision if lockdown restrictions are extended to August.
Among stocks, BHP fell 2.26% after reporting a decline in fourth quarter iron ore output, while Beach Energy slipped 2.19% as crude prices traded at 2-month lows after an agreement between OPEC+ members to boost production.
However, BNPL stocks rebounded from heavy losses after (NASDAQ:Apple) announced its own ‘buy now pay later’ service last week as Afterpay gained 1.67% and Zip Co surged 5.55%.
Oil Search jumped 6.54% after reporting a rejected takeover offer by Santos, but advised investors that it will consider a revised proposal.
In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 closed flat near 3-week lows of 12650.84.