The Australian share market has plunged 3.8 per cent, pulled down mainly by a big sell-off of resources stocks, especially global miner BHP Billiton.
It was the market’s hardest fall in a month. Both market indices dropped below 5,000 points, an important psychological support level.
The sell-off stripped almost $60 billion in value from the market.OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said the local bourse was an absolute bloodbath on Tuesday, with selling across all sectors.
“Resources have led the way down on renewed concerns about China,” Mr Le Brun said.”We had Glencore Xstrata down by almost a third last night (in London).
That just added to the very negative sentiment out there in the world of commodities.”US and European markets retreated overnight on deepened worries about China’s economy, after poor Chinese industrial profits data hit prices of key commodities such as oil and copper.
On the London exchange, shares in Swiss-based mining giant Glencore Xstrata fell more than 30 per cent.On Asian markets on Tuesday, resources firms were at the forefront of a general sell-off as investors also fretted over the impact of China’s slowing growth.
On the local bourse, in the resources sector, BHP Billiton retreated $1.54, or 6.65 per cent, to $21.61, Rio Tinto descended $2.23, or 4.57 per cent, to $46.52, and Fortescue Metals sagged 11.5 cents, or 6.44 per cent, to $1.67.Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum surrendered $1.74 to $28.17, and Santos was off 43 cents at $4.28.Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank lost $2.55 to $70.15, Westpac dumped $1.14 at $29.10, National Australia Bank fell $1.10 to $29.20, and ANZ dropped $1.02 to $26.38.Outdoor adventure gear retailer Kathmandu rose three cents to $1.30 despite its full year profit plummeting 51.7 per cent.
KEY FACTS- At 1620 AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark SP/ASX200 index was down 195.1 points, or 3.8 per cent, at 4,918.4 points.- The broader All Ordinaries index was down 187 points, or 3.63 per cent, at 4,958.1 points.- The December share price index futures contract was down 224 points to 4,882 points, with 44,023 contracts traded.-National turnover was 2.2 billion securities worth $6.1 billion.
WORST QUARTER IN FOUR YEARS
The Australian share market has taken its worst beating in four years over the September quarter, mainly because of weakness in economic powerhouse China.The market has fallen by just over nine per cent in the past three months, wiping about $160 billion from its value.
That’s more than what the Commonwealth Bank and BHP Billiton are worth each.With just one day left in the quarter, it is likely to be the worst period for investors since the third quarter of 2011, when the market fell 13 per cent amid an economic crisis in Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.
There was also talk at the time of China’s economy heading for a hard landing.With Australia’s resources sector heavily dependent on demand from China, the share market got walloped.Now it’s being punched hard again.”I’m probably not as nervous as I was back then, but there is no doubt that what’s going on right now is savage,” IG market strategist Evan Lucas said.”What’s going on right now is that there is a test of the market’s belief of the commodity story and China going forward.”Iron ore prices have been flat over the quarter, oil prices are down and the price of copper has had a shocker of a fall, Mr Lucas said.Copper is viewed as a baseline for the health of the Chinese economy because it is used heavily in industrial building, housing construction and technology.
Over the September quarter, and especially the past two months, China’s manufacturing sector has come under severe pressure.AMP Capital’s head of portfolio management Debbie Alliston said China is the key factor in plunging share prices.”Markets are reacting to fears that this going to slow global growth significantly, particularly for those countries that are reliant on Chinese demand,” she said.
But Ms Alliston said members of superannuation funds with investments in a range of assets should not panic about the market’s downturn, and sit tight instead.”This is definitely not another GFC,” she said.Weakness in the Australian banking sector, amid moves by regulators to slow lending to property investors, has added to the weight on the share market, Mr Lucas said.
Efforts to put the brakes on soaring Sydney and Melbourne home prices, and a flattening of property markets in other cities, have dampened investor sentiment towards the banks.On top of that are worries about the size of corporate loans tied up in the mining and energy industries.
The market’s heavy fall has Australian shares looking cheap, Mr Lucas said, but questions remain over the health of the Chinese economy.Investors on Wall Street also appear to be in a mood to sell, meaning more downside than upside for the local market in the near term.
Uncertainty about the timing of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike is also contributing to negative sentiment, Ms Alliston said.But the Australian market has had a pretty strong run upwards in recent years and was experiencing a healthy correction, she said.Stock valuations are probably near the point of luring buyers back into the market, especially with interest rates set to remain low.
However, the market could weaken if company earnings in the United States – the world’s biggest economy – decline, and signs of deflation appear around the globe.China remains a watching brief, with authorities there having enough room to trigger further stimulus measures.
source:www.skynews.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 