• Local shares down -0.3pc on Monday as Middle East war escalates
  • Losses came from tech stocks, while energy and mining stocks gained
  • Liontown says Albemarle walked away from acquistion

 

The ASX 200 tracked Wall Street lower, down by -0.3% on Monday, as a surge in energy and mining stocks were offset by losses in other sectors. Traders were cautious as they weighed the prospects of an escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Major tech stocks like Xero (ASX:XRO), Life360 (ASX:360) and Megaport (ASX:MP1) dragged down the bourse as oil prices surged 5% on Friday, amplifying fears of higher inflation.

The biggest stock news today came from lithium play Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), which said that its NYSE-listed suitor Albemarle walked away from the takeover deal  after Gina Rinehart built up a 19.9% stake over the past month and a half. LTR dropped -3% before putting its shares on a trading halt.

Now read: Going, Going … Albemarle pulls the pin on $6.6 billion Liontown mega lithium deal amid Rinehart shenanigans

Investors also cautiously await tomorrow’s RBA September minutes to understand what policymakers are thinking ahead of the November 7 board meeting.

To the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading close to an 11-month low after touching below US63c earlier. It has since popped back up to US63.20 at the time of writing.

And elsewhere in the region, most Asian stock markets were down today as the Israeli army said it was making preparations for “significant ground operations” in Gaza.

 

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Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) addressed shareholders at its Annual General Meeting today. TWE said trading in September was in line with expectations.

 

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Fletcher Building (ASX:FBU) tumbled 9% after the company came out of trading halt. On Friday, Fletcher issued a statement to deny claims by BCG that plumbing failures at a number of its homes in Perth were due to Fletcher’s equipments. Fletcher said evidence clearly points to installation as causation, and that testing to date proves no manufacturing defect.

Westpac (ASX:WBC) fell -0.8% after Ampol chairman Steven Gregg was appointed chairman-elect at the bank, succeeding John McFarlane.

Qantas (ASX:QAN) dropped after Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth announced her resignation.

SkyCity Entertainment (ASX:SKC)  fell -2.4% after CEO Michael Ahearne said he will will step down from his role early next year.

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