Market Wrap / dire strait

The S&P/ASX 200 opened sharply lower to kickstart the trading week, but managed to narrow its loss to finish 0.74% lower to 8,365.90 points. 

Threats from US President Trump that Iranian power plants would be obliterated if the country did not fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours rattled investor sentiment across the region, with Japan's Nikkei Index tumbling more than 4% intraday and South Korea's KOSPI down close to 6%. 

The energy sector was once again a key pillar of support as oil prices accelerated. Prime Minister Albanese has indicated Australia and Singapore will accelerate negotiations to secure supply chains of essential supplies such as diesel and LNG. 

The miners were firmly in the red, as investors considered subdued economic sentiment. Market-heavyweight BHP shed 0.8%. 

Losses in the gold sector were sharper as bullion dropped.St Barbara fell 7.8% despite the producer saying its PNG operations have more than three months of diesel supply. 

In other company news, ARN Media shed 4.6%. The network will defend legal proceedings commenced by broadcaster Kyle Sandilands after his $100 million dollar contract was axed. 

Tonight, US construction spending data is due. And PMIs are released in Australia tomorrow, amid continued supply chain disruption.