AU Evening Wrap | ASX 200 plunges to year's lowest point; Trade battle commences

Top gainers: $Contact Energy Ltd (CEN.AU)$, $Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AU)$ and $Bellevue Gold Ltd (BGL.AU)$

Top losers: $Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE.AU)$, $Audinate Group Ltd (AD8.AU)$ and $IDP Education Ltd (IEL.AU)$

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ dropped by 0.7 percent, or 57 points, closing at 8141.10 points, after experiencing a decline of more than 1 percent earlier in the session. The stock market declined to its lowest point this year on Wednesday following the initiation of a volatile global trade war by US President Donald Trump. The turbulent session on Wall Street followed the implementation of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. These countries responded with their own retaliatory levies. Hopes for any relief were quashed after Trump reaffirmed plans to impose broad reciprocal tariffs on April 2, asserting that the US "had been ripped off for decades" by major trade partners.

Sectors closed with mixed results, with 9 of the 11 sectors dropping, driven primarily by declines in consumer staples. The consumer staples were pressured by $Coles Group Ltd (COL.AU)$ and $Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE.AU)$, which both traded ex-dividend. Coles' shares fell 4.4% to A$18.89, while Treasury Wine Estates declined 5.6% to A$9.97. $Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW.AU)$ shares also dropped by 3.9% to A$28.72.

$WiseTech Global Ltd (WTC.AU)$ announced that it expects to appoint at least one new independent director within the next month to ensure its audit and risk committee complies with ASX listing requirements. The company's shares rose 1.2% to A$91.06, recovering from an earlier decline.

$Mineral Resources Ltd (MIN.AU)$ share price dropped 1.9% to A$21.08 after Fitch Ratings downgraded the company's unsecured debt to "BB-". Fitch cited higher risks to the company's balance sheet, driven by elevated leverage and increased deleveraging risks. But Mineral Resources downplayed these concerns, noting that Moody's has maintained a similar "Ba3" rating on the company since 2019.

$KMD Brands Ltd (KMD.AU)$ shares rose 1.5% to 35¢ after the company announced that Brent Scrimshaw, a former Nike executive, will take over as its new Group CEO and Managing Director on March 24.