Australian shares have closed lower on Tuesday, as global markets reacted to Russia announcing it will send "peacekeeping" troops into eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions.
The benchmark ASX 200 index closed 1 per cent lower, at 7,161 points. The broader All Ordinaries closed down 1.1 per cent, at 7,422.
The Australian dollar rose modestly to 72.08 US cents.
Global markets react to Russia-Ukraine threat
News that President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will send troops into two breakaway republics in Ukraine's east and prospect of sanctions is already causing pain on global markets.
Putin recognises Ukrainian separatist regionsWhile the US markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday, futures trading pointed towards a 1.5 per cent drop for the S&P 500 index tonight.
"The risk, even with a delay, is biting sanctions from the US and UK, while we will soon find out what the EU is capable of," said Rabobank global market strategist Michael Every.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index last night lost 1.3 per cent, to 455 points, along with Germany’s DAX, which dropped just over 2 per cent, to 14,731, and Britain's FTSE slid 0.4 per cent, to 7,834.
The escalating threat of armed conflict also affected commodity markets, with some analysts tipping oil prices will hit $US100 a barrel by tomorrow.
Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer and potential US sanctions on Russian financial institutions could also affect Russian funding of energy operations.
Brent crude lifted 1.4 per cent, to $US96.71 per barrel.
On the flipside, supply concerns could ease if US-Iranian nuclear talks result in the lifting of US oil sanctions against that country.
Spot gold gained a little, to $US1,907.95 an ounce.
Iron ore was up $US5.50, or 4.1 per cent, to $US139.00 per tonne.
Company results
Australia's biggest companies continued to report earnings results.
Hearing implant marker Cochlear was the top stock on the ASX 200, up 9 per cent to $207.37 after announcing a 35 per cent increase in its half-year dividend to $1.55 a share.
The company's revenue jumped 20 per cent, to $157.5 million, although it saw a 28 per cent drop in statutory net profit to $169.3 million as elective surgery cancellations and other COVID-19 restrictions hit.
Costa Group rose 8.7 per cent, making it the second best performing company on the ASX 200.
The fruit and vegetable grower posted an annual 16.2 per cent growth in profits and a 10.6 per cent jump in its EBITDA-S.
"Both metrics are in line with guidance, however, CGC [Costa Group Holdings] notes that avocado performance was the only downside," CommSec's markets note said.
"CGC says harvest at the new farm in China, full-year contributions from citrus farms, increased volumes of premium blueberry varieties and a rebound in grape volumes will be 'significant earnings growth drivers [over CY22]'."
Hub24 also reported strong result, boosting its share price by 4.8 per cent. Lendlease Group (+4.5pc) and Northern Star Resources (+4.6pc) rounded out the top five stocks on the top 200 companies index.
Energy companies also had a strong day amid concerns about Russian oil and gas supplies, with Woodside, Beach Energy and Santos all gaining between 3-4 per cent.
In other big company news, Coles Group added 3.2 per cent to its share price after the supermarket chain posted a 1 per cent increase in half-year revenue, a 4.4 per cent decline in EBIT and a 2 per cent fall in profits.
"Revenue growth was driven by a surge in spending throughout Delta lockdowns and the Christmas period, with key contributors being the liquor and supermarket segments," said CommSec equity market analyst Divik Nigam and senior economist Ryan Felsman.
Coles's COVID-19 costs increased annually by 43 per cent. The supermarket chain will deliver an interim dividend of 33 cents.
The tech sector was the biggest drag on the markets.
The worst-performing companies were Nanosonics (-13.1pc) on profit report that disappointed investors, Tyro Payments (-10.2pc), Zip Co (-9.7pc), Life 360 (-9.3pc) and Uniti Group (-9.2pc).
Prospective lithium miner Liontown Resources was the biggest non-technology sector loser, tumbling 10.8 per cent.
Alumina lost 3.3 per cent, despite reporting a 28 per cent jump in statutory profit and increasing its dividend by 8.8 per cent. The company attributed its strong results to higher alumina prices.
