The Australian sharemarket reversed early gains on Thursday, closing at fresh seven-month lows as tariff uncertainty dampened investor sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 37.1 points or 0.5% to 7,749.1, with 10 of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory.
Consumer staples led the declines, with ING tumbling 7.3%, Coles slipping 1.3%, Woolworths down 0.9%, and GrainCorp falling 1.9%.
The weakness extended to the consumer discretionary sector, where Wesfarmers and Aristocrat Leisure each lost 0.8%, News Corp dropped 2.4%, and JB Hi-Fi declined 1.4%.
The energy sector was hit hard following a downward revision in coal price forecasts by Macquarie, which cited weaker demand and modest supply growth.
New Hope tanked 8.6%, Whitehaven Coal fell 5.8%, while Coronado shed 5.5%.
Yancoal plummeted 12.6% as it traded ex-dividend.
The major banks struggled, with Commonwealth Bank slipping 0.6%, Macquarie Group declining 1.2%, ANZ losing 0.3%, and NAB finishing 0.5% lower.
Westpac fell 1.5% after analysts at Morgan Stanley lowered their price target to A$27.30 from $29.20 while maintaining an “underweight” rating.
The mining sector also faced losses, with BHP falling 1.3% and Rio Tinto dropping 1%.
Gold miners were among the few bright spots, with Gold Road Resources up 3.6%, Bellevue Gold rising 5.8% and Northern Star Resources up 2.5%. Safe-haven demand pushed gold prices to US$2,943 per ounce.
On the bond markets, yields moved lower, with the 10-year yield declining 1.1% to 4.422% and the 2-year yield falling by the same margin to 3.769%.
