Updates to close
ASX 200 trims gains to end flat
Trump imposes new levies on China
Global trade war escalates as China hits back
By Roushni Nair and Kumar Tanishk
Feb 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares lost all their gains and ended slightly lower on Tuesday after China slapped tariffs on U.S. imports in a tit-for-tat move that realised fears of a trade war between the world's largest economy and Australia's biggest export market.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO gained as much as 0.8% earlier in the session after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month.
However, the benchmark settled 0.1% lower at 8,374 points after Trump did not afford a similar leniency to China, which is Australia's largest trading partner.
Nonetheless, local miners .AXMM, which have a roughly 25% weightage on the benchmark and are heavily exposed to China, rallied 1.1% after sinking as much as 1.9% in the previous session.
BHP Group BHP.AX, the world's largest listed miner, and sector heavyweight Fortescue FMG.AX rose 0.7% and 1.8% respectively.
"The heavyweight banking and mining sector has been supported by dip buyers taking advantage of yesterday's knock down in prices," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Markets.
Banks .AXFJ reversed gains of 0.9% to end 0.2% lower, with the "Big Four" banks dipping between 0.1% and 0.3%.
Gold miners .AXGD rose 1.6% to a three-month high, tracking gains in bullion prices.
Predictive Discovery PDI.AX and ASX-listed shares of SSR Mining SSR.AX topped gains on the sub-index, adding 13.2% and 7.7%, respectively.
Tech stocks .AXIJ closed 1.5% higher, tracking the early jump in futures of tech-heavy Nasdaq. .N
WiseTech Global WTC.AX and NEXTDC NXT.AX added 3.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
Energy stocks .AXEJ slipped 0.7% after oil prices retreated. Oil producers Ampol ALD.AX and Viva Energy VEA.AX topped losses on the sub-index, losing over 1.5% each.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 advanced 0.7% to close at 12905.04 points.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair and Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))
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