SYDNEY: Australian shares fell 2.2 percent on Thursday with declines across all sectors following weak cues from Wall Street, and worries about slackening global growth raised by disappointing Chinese and Japanese economic data.
Investors shrugged off slightly better-than-expected jobs data from Australia while data from China, the biggest market for Australian exports, aggravated fears of deflation in the world’s second biggest economy.
In a complete turnaround from Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 114.72 points to 5,107.0 by 0254 GMT after two straight days of gains. The benchmark rose 2.1 percent in the previous session.
Despite Thursday’s fall the index is still up 1.34 percent for the week so far compared with a 4.2 percent drop the previous week, which was its biggest since June.
The index is down 5.5 percent year-to-date, on track for its worst performance since 2011. “I think those Chinese concerns are still front and centre,” said Damien Boey, equity strategist, Credit Suisse.
Major banks steered Thursday’s losses with Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ falling about 3 percent each. “It’s not just Australian banks, it’s developed world banks that are actually taking a hit on China concerns,” Boey said.
China’s manufacturers slashed prices at the fastest rate in six years in August as commodity prices fell and demand cooled, signalling stubborn deflation risks in the economy and adding to expectations for further stimulus measures. Hospital chain Healthscope fell as much as 7 percent after their holding company cuts its stake.
Commodities highlighted lingering concerns about global growth, with U.S. crude oil sliding nearly 4 percent overnight. Energy-related shares Santos fell 4.28 percent while Woodside Petroleum fell 2.2 percent.
BHP Billiton fell nearly 3 percent while Rio Tinto was down 0.5 percent. U.S. stocks ended 1 percent lower led by declines in shares of Apple and energy companies, which fell with oil prices.
For more individual stocks activity click on New Zealand’s benchmark NZX50 index rose 7.64 points or 0.1 percent to 5,679.06, its highest level so far this month, supported by ongoing gains in healthcare-related shares, while telecommunications share edged up.
Medical equipment maker Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 0.5 percent to NZ$7.69, its highest since early August, while retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare rose by the same amount. Further gains were tempered by selling in consumer-related shares, with casino operator SkyCity Entertainment falling 1.8 percent while Sky Television fell 1.5 percent.
