By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 39.60 points or 0.54% to 7,239.70 during Monday’s trade, extending losses of 1.55% in the previous week and closing near 8-week lows, with banks and airline stocks dragging on market sentiment as the new coronavirus Omicron variant threatens to derail the pandemic recovery.
Among stocks, big banks were down, as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) dipped 2.18%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 1.78%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 2.24% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 1.61%.
Airline stocks fell, with Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) down 2%, Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:FLT) dipping 0.88% and Webjet Ltd (ASX:WEB) shedding 2.8%.
Energy companies also declined despite oil prices partially retracing Friday’s losses. Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) lost 1.67%, Oil Search Ltd (ASX:OSH) fell 2.01%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) dipped 1.54% and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) dropped 4.8%.
Mining heavyweights bucked the trend and closed higher, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) adding 0.98%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) up 1.42% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) gaining 2.39%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields lifted to 1.757%, while United States 10-Year yields were at 1.528%.
Among currencies, the Australian Dollar lifted from 14-week lows to 0.71384, while the US Dollar Index was up near fresh 16-month highs of 96.271.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 0.79% to fresh 5-month lows of 12,532.