The ASX 200 index ended 0.5% lower on Monday at 7,108.8.
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This was a continuation of Friday’s loss when the market fell by 2.28% to its one-month low point. This was mainly led by the banking stocks as investors panicked after the U.S.-based SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) collapsed and lost 60% of its share value in a day.
Overall, the ASX 200 index has been down by 4.3% in the last month.
The Australian dollar gained 1.45% to 66.6 US cents.
The jitters in the banking sector led to the soaring of gold stocks on Monday as investors looked for safe options in the market. At the time of writing, the gold price per ounce was trading at $1,883 on Monday.
The gold mining sector was the best-performing sector on the market today, with around 10 miners witnessing higher gains in their share prices.
Gold miner Capricorn Metals Ltd. (AU:CMM) led the race with a 15% gain in its share price on Monday. The company also reported its half-yearly results for the fiscal year 2023, with higher profits in line with analysts’ expectations.
Other gold miners, such as Northern Star Resources (AU:NST), traded up by 5%, and Regis Resources Ltd. (AU:RRL) was up by 8.8%. The largest gold miner on the index, Newcrest Mining Limited (AU:NCM), saw its stock price increase by 3%.
On the losing side, two Australian software developing companies, Life360 (AU:360) and Xero Limited (AU:XRO), were trading down after they announced their exposures to SVB bank.
The insurance brokerage company AUB Group Limited (AU:AUB) lost 3.3% today. While Australian bank Judo Capital Holdings (AU:JDO) tumbled almost 7% on the overall bearish outlook for the smaller banks.
