Australian share market tumbles as Korean Peninsula tension weighs on investors

The Australian share market tumbled on Tuesday, as investors grew increasingly concerned about geopolitical events on the Korean Peninsula.

At 1140 local time AEST, the S&P/ASX200 index lost 55.6 points, or 0.94 percent, to 5,834.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was also down 57.8 points, or 0.98 percent, to 5,868.1 points.

Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, told Xinhua that investors were ignoring the positive results coming out of China, and rather showing their concern for the current geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We are seeing that trend of profit taking that we saw on Thursday, continuing." Spooner said.

The banking majors took a big hit this morning, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.56 percent, Westpac also struggled, down 0.49 percent, ANZ fell 0.41 percent, while the National Australia Bank dropped 0.56 percent in value.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton slipped a whopping 2 percent, Rio Tinto also dipped sharply, down 1.45 percent, Newcrest saw their value plummet, down 5.21 percent this morning, while Fortescue joined them with their own huge 5.27-percent loss.

Oil and gas fared no better, with Woodside Petroleum down 1.06 percent, Oil Search lost 2.33 percent, while Santos also suffered, down 2.9 percent in early trade.

Grocery giant Woolworths dipped, down 0.57 percent, while rivals Wesfarmers also did it tough, falling 1.40 percent in the early running.

Telco giant Telstra took a broad hit, down 3.49 percent, while iconic airline Qantas slightly bucked the index trend, with a minor 0.26-percent loss early. Endit