PERTH: The Australian share market has lost a massive 3.8 per cent today, or about $45 billion in market value.
ASX200 closed 3.6 per cent lower after a rout in resource stocks reverberated through the broader market.
At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 195.1 points, or 3.82 per cent, lower at 4,918.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 187.0 points, or 3.63 per cent, at 4,958.1.
On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 216 points lower at 4,891, with 42,667 contracts traded.
The Australian share market has been below 5000 points all day, joining the overnight retreat by US and European equities on deepened worries about China’s economy.
The benchmark index plummeted 2.3 per cent to 4997.9, eventually wiping $45 billion off the market’s value.
The resources sector was the hardest hit, taking cues from Monday’s rout for the sector in the European markets, while energy and banking stocks were also trading weaker.
The benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was down 2.8 per cent after the first half-hour of trade.
“It’s going to be a fairly bloody day,” Rivkin Securities chief executive Scott Schuberg said.
“Fundamentals are not really at play, we are really focused on technical levels today.”
