PERTH: The Australian sharemarket saw strong declines today as China-exporting companies such as miners bore the brunt of the second day of currency devaluations in a row from Beijing.
At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 91.1 points, or 1.66 per cent, lower at 5382.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 89.6 points, or 1.64 per cent, to 5383.5.
The People’s Bank of China followed up Tuesday’s 1.9 per cent devaluation of the yuan, with a fix just before noon that further lowered the unit by 1.6 per cent.
IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said China’s latest moves to address its “overvalued” currency had driven the market down, with exporters to China bearing the brunt.
“If you are a business exporting to China then you are watching this development with huge interest right now,” he said.
“The reaction in Australia’s miners has been significant with the ASX sub-sector down 3.4 per cent [prior to close], while energy has also been hit.”
Mr Weston said miners were not being helped by heavy sell-offs in commodity markets today, “especially nickel, which looks horrible on the daily chart.”
