The Australian share market has wiped out a week’s worth of gains, ending sharply lower following a broad-based sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
Key points:
- Around $85 billion in value was wiped off the All Ordinaries index
- Major mining, energy and banking stocks led the broad-based losses
- Wall Street fell on bleak economic data, as another 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
The ASX 200 closed down by 5 per cent or 276 points at 5,245 points, just a few points above where it closed last Friday, despite posting three strong sessions this week.
The All Ordinaries index lost 4.9 per cent to 5,325 points, losing around $85 billion in value as losses accelerated into the close.
All sectors posted hefty falls, led by miners and energy stocks, including BHP (-7.8pc), Fortescue (-8.2pc) and Santos (-7.7pc).
The major banks ANZ (-6.8pc), Commonwealth Bank (-6.1pc), NAB (-4.8pc) and Westpac (-5.8pc) also weighed on the broader market.
“Some of this is a reversal of recent gains but also the rot seems to be setting in that bank dividends are no longer the yield trade retail money had come to rely on,” said Karen Jorritsma, the head of equities at RBC Capita