Waterfront city skyline of Sydney city downtown at night with bright illumination of modern architectural landmarks in Sydney, Australia.
Prasit Photo | Moment | Getty Images
Australian markets fell in early trade Monday after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned to power, while most Asian markets were closed for holidays.
He is the country’s first prime minister to clinch a second consecutive term in 21 years – a move that indicates Australians’ desire for policy continuity amid the current uncertain macroeconomic outlook.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.29%, reversing course from strong gains in its last session when it hit its highest level since February 27.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar depreciated marginally by 0.06% against the U.S. dollar to trade at 0.6439.
Japanese, South Korean, Hong Kong and Chinese markets were closed for public holidays.
U.S. futures edged down, reversing course from strong wins in Wall Street last week.
The broad-based S&P 500 ended last Friday’s session 1.47% higher at 5,686.67. This marked its ninth consecutive day of gains and is its longest winning run since November 2004. The benchmark also managed to recover all losses incurred since April 2, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced retaliatory tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 564.47 points, or 1.39%, to end at 41,317.43, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.51% to 17,977.73.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
