ASX 200 falls on energy and mining stocks; Uniti surges on bid talks

ASX drops as materials and energy stocks weigh on the market. Uniti soars on Morrison & Co bid talks, Chalice Mining ends lower and Healius $100m buyback.

Volatility will continue this week amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and the prospect of higher interest rates in the US. Picture: Jeremy Piper / NCA NewsWire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Monday, March 15. The Australian market ends lower as materials and energy sector weigh on shares amid plateauing commodity prices. It follows Uniti surging on Morrison & Co talks and Rio Tinto eyeing a Mongolian copper mine. 

The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.7 per cent or 52 points to close at 7097.4 after posting its best session in six weeks on Monday.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat after being up more than 400 points earlier in the session, while the S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent and tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2 per cent ahead of the key US Federal Reserve meeting that starts on Wednesday where officials will likely raise interest rates. 

European stocks closed higher while Asian shares were mixed.

Chinese stocks have continued a rout this week, with the Hang Seng tumbling 5 per cent amid news of a Covid-19 lockdown in China’s tech hub Shenzhen. Shares also fell after the US said Russia had asked China for help in its war against Ukraine, raising concern about a backlash against Chinese companies.

The US Nymex crude price lost 7.2 per cent to $US101.44 a barrel, while Iron ore dropped 6.2 per cent to $US144.9 a tonne.