ASX 200 takes beating after US technology sell-off

The Australian technology sector has followed a sell-off on Wall Street to close down, and along with losses in mining, has dragged the ASX 200.

The benchmark dipped 0.33 per cent on Tuesday, shedding 29 points to close at 8787.

Following sell-offs in the giant US tech stocks, the Australian tech sector fell four per cent — the largest dip of the seven sectors to lose ground.

Wisetech continued its decline, following Monday’s news that founder and executive chairman Richard White was being investigated by the Australian Federal Police over claims of sexual exploitation and providing false information on a visa application.

Wisetech told the ASX on Tuesday the investigation related to Mr White “in a personal capacity”, the company was not being investigated nor was aware of any investigation.

Mr White “is not aware of any such investigation” the company said, and “emphatically and unequivocally denies any involvement in or with human trafficking”.

As Wisetech fell 4.4 per cent, NEXTDC suffered a 1.7 per cent slide on Tuesday, while Xero slumped 5.3 per cent and Technology One tanked 7.1 per cent.

The Wall Street tech sell-off comes amid a 40 per cent chance of a Fed rate hike in July, with the market fully pricing a 25-point hike by September.

The losses on the ASX on Tuesday extended to Siteminder (down six per cent) and Droneshield (down 4.5 per cent).

IG analyst Tony Sycamore said the stronger US dollar hit the Australian mining sector too.

Gold fell 1.6 per cent, dragging Pantoro down 6.1 per cent, Catalyst Metals was down 6.2 per cent, and Resolute Mining fell 5.7 per cent.

Iron ore futures dipped to the lowest point since early March, with more ailing signs in China’s construction industry.

Rio Tinto’s huge Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea is also pumping out ship loads quicker than expected, curbing futures pricing.

Oil prices continue to ease on US-Iran peace talks, but investors may be forcing the issue, CIBC Private Wealth senior energy trader Rebecca Babin said.

“There is still a long road ahead in negotiations, and the market may be pricing in a surplus before it arrives, just as it priced in a deficit before barrels were actually lost,” she said.

Viva Energy confirmed its Geelong refinery will get back to 90 per cent capacity after the fire in April.

The weaker oil prices subsumed Viva’s repair work though, with the stock losing 2.3 per cent.

Santos was the only one of the 10 largest energy firms to finish in the green.

Ampol lost 0.96 per cent, Yancoal darkened 1.8 per cent and Paladin plummeted 4.5 per cent.

The brightest spots on the bourse were financials, with the sector reaching its highest mark since before the May 12 federal budget.

“Markets appear to have taken some comfort from the government’s revised tax package announced last week, which includes several important carve-outs,” Mr Sycamore said.

Westpac, NAB and ANZ gained between one per cent and 1.4 per cent each, and Commonwealth Bank rose 0.5 per cent. Soul Patts added another 1.9 per cent.

Inghams was plucked of another 1.7 per cent, a day after announcing a full lockdown of farms in WA with bird flu cases detected in two wild birds 700km away.