SYDNEY — Australian shares extended their losing run Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index falling 65.9 points, or 0.73%, to 8,945.0 by early afternoon, sliding to its lowest level in six weeks as renewed Reserve Bank rate hike fears, a stark new housing downturn warning and continued Middle East tensions weighed heavily on sentiment.

The decline dragged the index back below the psychologically significant 9,000-point level, wiping out Monday’s modest gain of just five points, which had left the ASX 200 at 9,010.9 to start the week. Selling pressure was broad-based throughout Tuesday’s session, with roughly 115 ASX 200 constituents trading lower compared with around 70 advancers and 15 stocks unchanged, according to data from The Motley Fool Australia.

All major sectors were firmly in negative territory as the session progressed. According to ABC News’ live market coverage, consumer staples fell 1.2%, technology dropped 1.1% and financials shed 1.1% by mid-morning. Notably, even materials and energy, sectors that would typically be expected to benefit from stronger oil and copper prices, traded lower, down 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively, underscoring the breadth of Tuesday’s selloff.

A grim new forecast on Australia’s housing market added to the day’s cautious tone. According to a report from HSBC cited in ABC’s live coverage, the bank’s central case now anticipates further declines in national home prices, warning that values, already down nearly 5% from their August peak, could fall by a further 8 percentage points by mid-2027.

“Our central case sees housing prices in Australia falling further yet,” the HSBC report said. “With housing prices already down nearly 5% from their peak in August, we see a further fall of around 8ppts by mid-2027. This would see a peak-to-trough fall of 13%. If our central case eventuates, it would be the largest decline in housing prices in at least the last three decades.”

The housing warning compounded existing pressure on the banking sector, which has already been grappling with elevated bond yields and growing expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia could move to raise interest rates again as soon as this month. Interest rate markets have continued pricing in the likelihood of tightening, following stronger-than-expected second-quarter GDP data released last week that reignited fears of further RBA action.

Oil markets remained a significant point of focus for investors Tuesday, following another escalation in the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran. Brent crude settled at $97.31 a barrel Monday, after briefly touching $98.06, its highest level since late July, before easing to trade around $96.80 Tuesday morning. The latest price moves followed fresh clashes between the U.S. and Iran, including attacks involving oil tankers and warships in and around the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, extending a pattern of volatility that has gripped global oil markets throughout the ongoing conflict.

Despite the elevated oil prices, energy and resource stocks failed to provide the offsetting support they had delivered in some earlier sessions this year, reflecting broader risk-off sentiment across the local market that overwhelmed the usual dynamic in which higher commodity prices lift resource-heavy Australian shares.

Tuesday’s session also brought a fresh batch of companies trading ex-dividend, a mechanical factor that typically weighs on individual share prices and, by extension, the broader index. Stocks trading without entitlement to their latest dividend payout included AUB Group, BlueScope Steel, Mineral Resources, News Corporation and Smartgroup Corporation. Mineral Resources is set to reward shareholders with a fully franked dividend of 83 cents per share, payable Sept. 30.

Consumer sentiment data released Tuesday added a further layer of caution to the day’s trading, with confidence readings reportedly declining amid the combination of rate hike fears and ongoing cost-of-living pressures facing Australian households. That weaker sentiment reading contributed to the pronounced weakness seen specifically in consumer-facing sectors including staples and discretionary retail during the session.

Tuesday’s losses extend a difficult run for the ASX 200 stretching back through the first week of September. According to Trading Economics, the index has now declined 3.33% over the past month, even as it remains up 0.86% compared with a year earlier. The benchmark had touched a record high in early August before paring gains to finish that month up 1.1%, with the market’s tone souring considerably since the calendar turned to September amid the combination of geopolitical, monetary policy and housing-related pressures now weighing on investor sentiment.

Petrol prices have also continued climbing alongside the broader energy market volatility, with the national average price of unleaded fuel rising 0.7 cents to 205.5 cents per liter in the week to Sunday, according to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum, adding a further tangible cost pressure for Australian consumers already grappling with elevated interest rates and a weakening housing market.

Looking ahead, market attention is expected to remain focused on key economic data due from China later this week, including August consumer and producer price figures along with trade performance numbers, which could offer further signals on demand conditions in Australia’s largest trading partner. Locally, investors will continue watching for any further commentary from the Reserve Bank ahead of its coming policy decision, along with ongoing developments in the Middle East conflict and their implications for global oil markets, as the ASX 200 looks to stabilize following its slide to a six-week low.

Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user.
Get in touch
to discuss the right option for your organisation.

Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get

• Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
• Data & Insights — detailed profiles of WA companies, people, projects and deals
• MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
• Special publications and industry reports
• Daily and weekly email newsletters

Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:

• Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
• Find decision-makers and track their career movements
• Research live and completed projects across WA industries
• Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
• Access industry rankings and league tables

Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.

Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at
general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.

MyBN
is part of every subscription. It’s your personalised view of Business News. You can follow the companies, people, sectors and projects that matter to you, and get a news feed and alerts tailored to your interests. You can save articles to read later and retain only what you need.

Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.

If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.

Business News subscribers are:

• Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
• Investors and advisers researching companies, deals and industry trends
• Consultants and professionals staying across sectors relevant to their clients
• Business owners looking for leads, context and market intelligence

Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.

The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.

The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.

The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business.
Sign up for free.

We’re happy to help.
Get in touch
and our team will come back to you.

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including life insurance, public and private sector retirement plans, annuities, and mutual funds available through Nationwide Financial.

Nationwide Financial makes simplicity a priority by providing Financial Professionals with straightforward, client-ready materials, easy-to-use tools, and products and services that are transparent, so they can spend less time dealing with time-consuming tasks and more time helping clients. Note: This account is not managed or monitored by Nationwide, and any messages sent via Seeking Alpha will not receive a response. For inquiries or communication, please use Nationwide’s official channels.

A new report says allowing airspace reforms could create jobs and bring investment to the West

Hundreds of jobs could be unlocked in the West Country if the government uses existing powers to fast-track airspace reforms at Cotswold Airport, a think tank has said.

The Good Growth Foundation (GGF) is urging transport secretary Heidi Alexander to accelerate changes that would allow for more flight testing of drones and other emerging technologies.

The report – A Golden Ticket for Government – argues Cotswold Airport could become a centre for drones, aerospace engineering, testing, advanced logistics and autonomous aviation, creating up to 450 skilled jobs.

Cotswold Airport, near the village of Kemble, is already home ‘flying taxi’ firm Vertical Aerospace. The New York-listed company has a flight test centre at the airport and last month announced plans to build a factory at the site as it moves towards commercial production.

The GGF report identifies Cotswold Airport as a “strong potential candidate” for airspace reforms because of its aircraft storage and maintenance activity; available operational space; and relatively low-congestion airspace environment.

Praful Nargund, director of The Good Growth Foundation, said: “This is an opportunity to turn Cotswold Airport’s existing strengths into a source of innovation and long-term security for the local community.”

The GGF believes Cotswold Airport should replicate a model being proposed for Lydd Airport in Kent, which has been identified for a ‘special use airspace’ pilot.

It says by having a specific managed airspace area, drones, autonomous aircraft and conventional aviation would be able to operate “safely together, helping to attract investment in the third generation of flight”.

“The government should back the model at Lydd and replicate it in Kemble to unlock high-skilled jobs and investment,” added Mr Nargund. “This is what good growth in every postcode looks like.”

If the Lydd model is proven, the report argues it could provide a blueprint for other regional sites, including Cotswold Airport.

Tony Vaughn MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said: “This proposal offers a chance to put Lydd on a secure footing for the future, bringing new investment and good jobs for local people while helping to ensure that young people do not have to leave the area to find skilled work.

“I want to see our coastal communities at the front of the queue for the jobs and industries of the future. With the right backing from Government, Lydd can be a powerful example of what that looks like in practice.”

The think tank is calling on Ms Alexander to issue so-called ‘Air Navigation Directions’ to prioritise and accelerate airspace changes.

“This mechanism could help airports develop new commercial roles in sectors such as drone inspection, logistics, maintenance, aerospace manufacturing, testing, software and airspace-management systems,” the think tank added.

Shares of Shiprocket rose 3% to Rs 140 on the BSE on Tuesday after the logistics company reported its first earnings since listing on the stock exchanges. The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 13.7 crore for Q1FY27, narrowing from a loss of Rs 18 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations increased 33.8% year-on-year to Rs 592.1 crore from Rs 442.5 crore in Q1FY26.

EBITDA loss also narrowed to Rs 21 crore from Rs 26 crore a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Shiprocket reported positive EBITDA of Rs 8.9 crore, compared with Rs 1 crore in Q1FY26. The company said it remained adjusted EBITDA positive throughout the quarter.

Also read: NSE IPO set to deliver massive gains of Rs 7,200 crore to state-run insurance firms

The improvement in adjusted profitability came alongside continued investments in the company’s faster-growing businesses. Shiprocket’s core business generated adjusted EBITDA of Rs 52.7 crore, with a margin of 12.8%, compared with 12.3% a year ago.

Shiprocket Managing Director and CEO Saahil Goel said the Q1 results were in line with the company’s strategy. “We are only a few years into a decade-long build, and we continue to double down and invest behind unlocking the true potential of India’s businesses,” he said.

Shiprocket’s emerging business revenue jumps 70%

Shiprocket’s core business revenue grew 22% year-on-year to Rs 411.7 crore, while revenue from its emerging business surged 70% to Rs 180.4 crore. The emerging business includes checkout and marketing solutions, cross-border and omnichannel solutions.
The company said its emerging business grew 3.2 times faster than the core business and accounted for 30% of total revenue in the quarter, up from 24% a year ago. The segment’s contribution margin rose to 15.3% from 9.3%, while absolute contribution increased to Rs 27.7 crore from Rs 9.8 crore. Its EBITDA margin also improved to -24% from -38%.Within the segment, Checkout and Marketing Solutions grew around 193% year-on-year, according to the company. Management said businesses such as Ads were barely present two years ago but have now become among the faster-growing parts of the platform.

Shiprocket ended the quarter with 224,314 active merchants. Its trailing 12-month GMV stood at Rs 34,661.8 crore, while unique transactions reached 216 million.

Read more: NSE IPO gets Sebi approval: 10 important points investors should know as D-Street debut inches closer

The company also expanded its technology offering during the quarter. It launched an upgraded RADAR AI-powered courier intelligence platform that can identify SLA breaches and return-to-origin risks at the pincode level before an order is dispatched.

Shiprocket also introduced an AI Ads platform for static, editable, short-form and 360-degree creatives, along with AI Assist and AI Calling for order confirmation. It further rolled out appointment-based cargo deliveries to quick-commerce dark stores, with integrations including Blinkit and Zepto.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

The Indian stock market extended losses on Tuesday, with Sensex and Nifty trading lower as elevated crude oil prices, Fed rate hike worries, booming IPO market and other factors continue to contribute to the slow grind down in the market.

Sensex dropped around 320 points to 75,809 while Nifty 50 fell 82 points to 23,697 during today’s session. Broader markets however continued to remain mixed, with Nifty Midcap 100 in the red and Nifty Smallcap 100 in the green.

M&M, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Trent, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Infosys and other stocks fell around 1% each to lead losses on Sensex, while BEL and Eternal shares gained nearly 1% each.

Among the sectors, Nifty IT fell 0.7% as IT stocks extended losses on Fed rate hike worries, while Nifty Metal index rose 0.4%. The overall market breadth however turned slightly positive, with NSE seeing 1,345 advances against 1,327 declines, while 123 stocks remained unchanged.

Why is the stock market falling today?

The market is now in the fifth week of a slow but steady downtrend, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, noted. He added that elevated crude prices, selling in IT stocks, fears of a Fed rate hike this month and a booming IPO market which is sucking lots of money have contributed to this slow grind down in the market. “Since the macro construct which contributed to this downtrend persists, it is possible that the downtrend may continue in the near-term. But this trend is opening up opportunities for investors in large-caps which continue to remain weak despite improving fundamentals,” the analyst said.
A major factor contributing to the weakness of the large-caps despite their attractive valuations is that bulk of the steady monthly SIP inflows are going to the mid-and small-cap segments despite their elevated valuations, Vijayakumar pointed out, adding that a reversion to mean is overdue in the mid-and small-cap segments. “This can facilitate a rally in fundamentally sound large-caps. The timing of this transition is hard to predict. But this is likely by this month-end when the mega IPOs of NSE and Jio are completed and refunds from the IPOs come back to investors. Instead of trying to time the market, investors can think about changing the weightage of portfolios towards large-caps where the risk-reward is favourable,” he concluded.Technical view on Nifty

Despite Nifty slipping to the lowest point since late July, the consolidation in the second half of yesterday gives hope towards recovery attempts, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments. He however will need a confirmation from a break beyond 23,860 to signal recovery attempts, while downside marker is placed at 23,720.

Nifty’s systematic slippage over the last few days has rendered the trend vulnerable, exposing supports at 23,570 and 23,260, the analyst said while explaining the technical charts.

Disclosure: “This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.”