Following Wall Street’s overnight sell-off, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.58 per cent lower at 7,311.80.
Iron ore prices are declining, heading towards $US100 per tonne. The drop is influenced by sluggish demand from China and the country's plan to end night-time trading of metal futures to reduce market fluctuations. Currently, Singapore iron ore futures for the active September contract have fallen by 1.9 per cent to $US101.85 per tonne in afternoon trade, resulting in total losses of nearly 10 per cent. Citi, a financial institution, has predicted that iron ore will likely trade around $US100 per tonne in the next three months.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 25 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 0.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 15.75 points.
The SPI futures are down 58 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Communication Services, up 0.19 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 1.63 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG), closing 1.87 per cent higher at $5.99. It was followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL).
The worst-performing large cap was James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX), closing 2.82 per cent lower at $41.34. It was followed by shares in Xero (ASX:XRO) and IDP Education (ASX:IEL).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has lost 1.65 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.48 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 2.17 per cent.
Company news
Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) has agreed to proceed with the delivery of Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) product to provide an early source of revenue ahead of first concentrate production at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project. Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, said: “Therefore, progressing with the production of DSO not only provides early revenue potential, but also enables us to derisk the project by field testing our ore sorting and logistics solutions.” Shares closed 0.92 per cent higher at $2.75.
Elementos (ASX:ELT) confirms zinc mineralisation and by-product potential at Oropesa Tin Project. Managing Director Joe David commented: “These results now present the necessary data to further evaluate the potential for a maiden zinc Mineral Resource at Oropesa and a zinc by-product.” Shares closed flat at 15 cents.
Resource Mining Corporation (ASX:RMI) announced that at their Kola lithium project, assays point to the presence of lithium-bearing pegmatites in the northern part of the project, and along trend with Keliber’s deposits. Executive Chairman, Asimwe Kabunga, said: “We look forward to the commencement of drilling within these extremely prospective regions as soon as our reservation applications are converted into exploration permits.” Shares closed 1.89 per cent higher at 5.4 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,971.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.4 per cent lower at US$106.95 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 3.3 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.05 higher at US$79.54 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.37 US cents.
