The Australian sharemarket has slumped amid investor caution over the escalation in trade tensions between the US and Europe over the weekend, after President Donald Trump threatened to increase tariffs until the administration is allowed to buy Greenland.
The S&P/ASX200 was down 37 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 8866.9 at 12.36pm on Monday, as US stock futures also fell and the price of gold rose.
The soft start to the week comes after ASX chalked up five days in a row of gains last week, helped by a strong performance from the miners, amid a rise in commodity prices.
Australian shares were little changed soon after trading opened on Monday.Credit: Getty Images
The iron ore giants were mixed, with BHP falling 1.1 per cent, Fortescue losing 2.9 per cent and Rio Tinto moving 0.2 per cent higher.
Gold hit a new all-time high above $US4,690 ($7,018) an ounce, lifting ASX-listed producers such as Northern Star (up 2.5 per cent), while Evolution gained 1.3 per cent and US-headquartered Newmont rose 0.9 per cent higher.
Banking giants, which are a key influence on the overall market, lost ground. Commonwealth Bank shed 0.6 per cent, National Australia Bank was down 1.3 per cent, Westpac fell 0.8 per cent and ANZ Bank lost 0.5 per cent.
The strongest sector on the bourse was utilities, with Origin Energy (up 1.3 per cent) and AGL Energy (up 0.8 per cent), and pipeline business APA Group (up 1.1 per cent) all moving higher.
Technology was the weakest sector as investors adopted a more cautious stance, with logistics software business WiseTech (down 3.6 per cent), accounting software firm Xero (down 2 per ent) and tracking business Life360 (down 6.4 per cent) all in the red.
US stock futures slid on Monday, though a holiday in US equity and bond markets made for thin trading and likely contributed to the 0.9 per cent drop in S&P 500 futures and a 1.1 per cent fall in Nasdaq futures.
