The Australian sharemarket began the week lower, with heavy selling in mining stocks dragging the broader index down as gold and silver extended their declines amid shifting expectations around United States monetary policy.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 90.5 points or 1% to 8,778.6, with eight of the 11 sectors finishing in negative territory.
The losses followed weakness in global equities and came ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision on Tuesday. ASX’s RBA rate tracker indicated a 72% probability of a 25 basis point increase as of 30 January.
Precious metals were a key driver of the downturn. Gold extended its recent declines, shed 7% to trade around US$4,548.13 per ounce. Silver also fell sharply, losing 11.5% to US$74.68 per ounce.
The declines were linked to market reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, which prompted a reassessment of the interest rate outlook and weighed on non-yielding assets.
The pullback in bullion triggered broad selling across ASX-listed miners. Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont Corporation declined 8.1%, 5.6% and 10%, respectively, while Silver Mines lost 12%, and Sun Silver shed 12.2%.
Among the diversified mining majors, BHP fell 2.3% and Rio Tinto retreated 1%, although Fortescue added 0.9%.
Energy stocks also came under pressure as crude oil prices slid more than 4% on signs of easing tensions between the United States and Iran.
Santos dipped 3.3%, Ampol lost 1.1% and Woodside Energy finished 1.8% lower.
The information technology sector was another area of weakness, with Xero down 0.1%, WiseTech Global falling 2.7% and TechnologyOne closing 0.9% lower.
Banking stocks were mixed ahead of the RBA’s rate decision. Commonwealth Bank gained 1.4%, Westpac added 0.3% and ANZ Group edged 0.1% higher, while National Australia Bank slipped 1%.
Telecommunication services were the strongest-performing sector, supported by a rally in media-linked stocks. Nine Entertainment jumped 6.7%, while News Corp rose 2.2% and Telstra gained 0.6%.
In corporate news, GrainCorp tumbled 14% after issuing downgraded EBITDA guidance of $200 million to $240 million, down from $308 million in FY25.
Bond yields moved higher, with the 10-year yield rising 0.3% to 4.793% and the 2-year yield up 0.2% to 4.186%.
