Shares declined for a second day in line with overnight weakness on Wall Street after President Trump reignited tensions with Russia over Syria.
The ASX 200 shed 19 points or 0.3% to 5809 as gains in resource stocks were for a second day outweighed by falls in other sectors. The metals & mining sector put on 0.7%, materials 0.4% and energy 0.4%. Notable losses included industrials -0.9%, consumer staples -0.7% and financials -0.5%.
Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 0.55% after the White House warned Russia of US plans to retaliate against the Russian-backed Assad regime following a chemical weapons attack. President Trump tweeted that Russia should prepare for missile strikes on Syria. S&P 500 futures were recently up 5.75 points or 0.22%.
"The missile tweet was sufficient to frighten the horses to some extent, dampening risk sentiment," David de Garis, director of economics at National Australia Bank, told CNBC.
Asian markets traded mixed. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.25%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.36% and Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.03%.
Crude oil futures put on another 27 cents or 0.4% this morning to US$67.09 a barrel. Gold futures gave back $6.40 or 0.47% to US$1,353.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 77.56 US cents.
XJO can't seem to break out of the downtrend that started in early January. Starting to look like it may have put in another 'lower high' this week. If so, we should see 5700 in the next week or two. The Trump effect has turned from tailwind into headwind. No sooner was the trade squabble with China off the front page, than he picks another fight. We live in interesting times. Trading: RFN was obviously 'the one' this morning. I missed the opening flurry and opted not to chase. Ran higher than I'd anticipated. Ah well.
