Australian shares tumble as Wall Street losses pull market below 8,600

(RTTNews) – The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell below the 8,600 level, closing at 8,581.40, a decline of 0.83%, while the broader All Ordinaries Index slipped 0.91% to 8,776.30. The drop was led by mining and technology stocks. Major miners BHP Group and Rio Tinto each lost more than 1%, Fortescue fell over 2% and Mineral Resources dropped almost 4%. Energy companies were the only bright spot, with Beach Energy, Santos and Woodside Energy each rising about 3%, and Origin Energy up nearly 2%. The big four banks – Westpac, ANZ, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank – each fell roughly 1%. Tech firms such as Block (owner of Afterpay), Xero, Zip and WiseTech Global each lost around 2%, while Appen remained flat. The Australian dollar weakened to US$0.700.

The sell‑off was triggered by broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.9% to 49,918.78, the Nasdaq fell 2% to 25,169.50 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.6% to 7,266.99. European markets were mixed, with the UK FTSE 100 up 0.3% and the French CAC 40 and German DAX down 0.5% and 1% respectively. Crude oil prices rose on heightened Gulf tensions, with WTI July crude up 2.56% to US$90.46 a barrel.