Australian shares sank to a 10-week low on Tuesday as investors bought government bonds, gold, and bitcoin to shelter from worries a banking crisis in the US could balloon into a broad risk asset crash.P/ASX 200 Index pared losses in the morning to finish 1.4 per cent lower at 7008.9 points at its lowest level since closing at 6946.2 points on January 3.
In Australia, the tech sector bore the brunt of the selling to plunge 3.4 per cent, with cloud accounting business Xero losing 1.5 per cent and Computershare plunging 7.7 per cent as investors bet a lower pace of rate increases will hurt the interest income the financial administration business earns on clients’ funds.Bank shares clawed back some of the morning’s heavy losses, but still all finished lower, with Commonwealth Bank alone among the big four to finish higher.
The broader materials sector fell 1.6 per cent as gains among the gold miners were offset by falls for iron ore heavyweights BHP Group and Rio Tinto. In the tech sector, PPK Group vaulted more than 14 per cent on plans to buy a large stake in privately owned lithium battery manufacturer PowerPlus Energy.