By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 33.3 points or 0.5% to 7,226.2 after the first 80 minutes of Monday’s trade, partially retracing gains of 1.5% in the previous week as investor confidence was soured amid growing protests in China as President Xi Jinping maintains a stringent zero-covid policy in the face of a fresh wave of infections.
ASX 200 Futures were trading 0.2% lower.
Among stocks, Materials led the declines, falling 1% as unrest in China dampened appetite for natural resources. Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) lost 1.8%, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) fell 1%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 0.2% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) dipped 1.5%.
Energy fell 1.1% amid lower oil prices. Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 1.9%, Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) lost 1.2%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) fell 2.4% and South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) dipped 1.9%.
Utilities also declined 0.9% collectively, with Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) down 0.4%, Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX:MCY) falling 4.9%, APA Group (ASX:APA) down 1.2% and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) slipping 1.6%.
In company news, Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) shed 6.4% after announcing the departure of chief executive George Frazis. Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) also retreated 3.1% after reporting a decline revenues amid lower COVID-19 testing volumes.
Ahead in the week, market participants will be closely monitoring upcoming preliminary retail sales data today, building approvals and construction work on Wednesday, AIG manufacturing index and private new capital expenditure on Thursday and monthly home loans reading on Friday.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.602% while United States 10-Year yields were at 3.687%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.4% to 11,338.4.