The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Thursday, led by declines in the mining giants as tariff threats from US President Donald Trump continued to weigh on sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.6 per cent, or 51.1 points, to 8378.7, with nine of the sharemarket’s 11 sectors closing in the red. The All Ordinaries Index also closed down 0.6 per cent.

While Mr Trump has refrained from slapping China with aggressive tariffs in his first week back in the White House, he is considering a 10 per cent level on China, and has also warned duties were on the cards for the European Union too.

Skittish investors

While the reaction was more muted in commodity markets, cautious investors did take some off the table in the mining sector. BHP dropped by 1.7 per cent to $39.12, Rio Tinto lost 1.4 per cent to $118, and Mineral Resources dropped 3.3 per cent to $35.37. Fortescue – which reported a record half-year for iron ore shipments – slid 2.2 per cent to $18.62.

IG analyst Tony Sycamore said tariffs on China was a “moving goal” that would keep investors skittish in the short term.

“Ten per cent could be the starting point, before Trump all of a sudden adds another 10 per cent [to that]. That uncertainty is something which investors don’t like,” he said.

Critical minerals miner Iluka Resources posted the biggest loss on the ASX 200, falling 6.5 per cent to $4.63, after Morgan Stanley warned 2025 production could come in 20 per cent lower than consensus. That was followed by Liontown Resources, which dropped 6.3 per cent to 66¢.

Mr Sycamore said the uncertainty over China tariffs could help Australian equities that are not reliant on Chinese demand to “reclaim some of those losses” – including the banks which had a more muted session on Thursday.

Alongside miners, traders took some profits in some of the biggest names across the ASX on Thursday. Industrial property developer Goodman Group fell by 1.1 per cent to $38.19, Wesfarmers dropped 1.5 per cent to $72.32 and poker machine company Aristocrat Leisure retreated 2.7 per cent to $67.67.

Elsewhere in markets, bitcoin tumbled 3.2 per cent to $US102,201, the Australian dollar was flat at US62.73¢ and gold slipped 0.1 per cent to $US2752,78, snapping a three-day rally.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Myer’s merger with a portfolio of clothing brands owned by Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments was backed by shareholders. Myer shares jumped 6.1 per cent to 96¢, while Premier shares slipped 0.7 per cent to $26.85.

Insignia lifted 2 per cent to $4.52 after Bain Capital sweetened its offer for the wealth manager, matching the $4.60 per share put forward by rival bidder CC Capital.

Investment platform provider Praemium’s shares leapt 11.8 per cent to 85¢ after net inflows soared across its SMA and Powerwrap products.

Peregrine Gold jumped 3.5 per cent to 15¢ as the miner announced the sale of its West Australian gold project to Capricorn Metals in a combined equity and cash deal.

Evolution Mining dropped 3.9 per cent to $5.60 after analysts at Citi downgraded it to “neutral” after the gold miner’s shares gained about 83 per cent in 12 months.