Australian shares fell 1.1 percent on Friday, shedding gains from earlier in the week, with the index pushed down by softer commodities prices and the lack of any imminent move for stimulus plans in the euro zone. Top miners slumped more than 2 percent, with BHP Billiton down 2.3 percent and Rio Tinto 4.4 percent lower. Dealers said that, apart from the disappointment over Europe, a slowdown in China also weighed on the miners.
"We will see more shortselling in miners because the figures out of China, like PMI, are just at the survival level," said Biyi Cheng, Head of Dealing APAC at City Index. BHP, the world's biggest miner, said it was taking $3.3 billion in writedowns due to plunging commodities prices. Energy stocks retreated on volatile trading in crude. Woodside Petroleum dropped 0.9 percent, while Origin Energy lost 0.4 percent.
The big four banks also lost ground, with the biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, down 1.1 percent and Westpac Banking Corp losing 1.0 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 48.0 points to 4,221.5, according to the latest data, after reaching a 10-week high on Thursday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.5 percent to 3,548.0. The market traded in low volumes as investors remain cautious ahead of US non-farm payroll data due later on Friday, dealers said. Telecommunications company Telstra was the most traded stock of the day, gaining almost 0.8 percent. Telstra has outperformed the Australian index in the past two months due to defensive buying.
Comments
Comments are closed.