Australian shares opened lower on Thursday after a broad-based sell-off on Wall Street driven by renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and more weakness in technology stocks.
The ASX 200 index fell 1% by 10:20 am AEST (12:20 am GMT), pressured by falls of more than 1% in the major United States stock indexes as chipmakers continued to slide and amid renewed tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Sentiment deteriorated after President Donald Trump warned the United States could attack Iran "very hard" if a peace agreement was not reached, and as investors continued to sell technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 1.9%, the S&P 500 lost 1.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.0% on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
U.S. Bank Wealth Management investment strategist Tom Hainlin said investors were taking profits in the tech sector, pricing in higher interest rates after recent economic data and worried about the war.
"Perhaps that conflict continues on into the mid to late summer," Harlin was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
The Australian market had jumped 0.6% on Wednesday with the ASX 200 adding 49.1 points to 8,653.3 and eight of the 11 sectors ending higher.
Stocks in focus today may include Southern Cross Media (ASX: SXL), which announced in a trading update that it was sacking up to 300 people, and Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC), which named AustralianSuper executive Nick O’Neil as its new Chief Executive Officer.
In fixed interest markets, the Australian Government bond yield curve steepened as two-year yields dropped by 0.61% to 4.538% and 10-year yields rose by 0.10% to 4.911% at the time of writing.
