The Australian share market has closed lower as almost all sectors fell on a weaker than expected global economic outlook.
The local share market has followed US stocks into the red after the International Monetary Fund revised down its global growth outlook and Germany’s industrial output sank 4.0 per cent in August, OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said.
The mining sector posted the biggest losses while the only sector to finish higher was utilities.
“The utilities were the only ray of sunshine on a fairly bleak day but it could have been worst if it was not for the bargain hunters,” Mr Le Brun said.
“The IMF’s global growth downgrade, poor data out of Germany and a lot of inaction from the European Central Bank are the major factors.”
The IMF has also forecast Australia to have the second worst jobless rate in the Asia-Pacific region over the next two years.
All eyes will be on official local job figures for September on Thursday.
Among the utilities, power supplier AGL Energy climbed 12 cents to $13.70, while natural gas infrastructure company APA Group gained three cents to $7.37.
As for the resource sector, Rio Tinto dumped 98 cents to $59.09 after Swiss-based miner Glencore said it had abandoned its takeover bid, at least for now.
BHP Billiton dropped 40 cents to $32.84, and iron ore miner Fortescue Metals shed four cents to $3.40.
Among the financials, Commonwealth Bank fell 75 cents to $75.02, National Australia Bank lost 23 cents to $32.15, ANZ declined 21 cents to $31.30, and Westpac backtracked 14 cents to $32.28.
Blood products and vaccines provider CSL was off 20 cents at $73.08 after it said it would spend $210 million on expanding its Melbourne plasma manufacturing plant.
GWA Group dipped three cents to $2.52 after the bathroom and kitchen fixtures supplier announced 164 jobs will go as it restructures its manufacturing operations in Australia.
BC Iron’s shares edged 0.5 cents higher to $1.485 as its acquisition of media magnate Kerry Stoke’s mining company, Iron ore Holdings, nears completion.
KEY FACTS
* At 1615 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 42.9 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 5,241.3.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 43.2 points, or 0.82 per cent, at 5,241.6.
* The December share price index futures contract was 39 points lower at 5,219, with 30,071 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $3.5 billion.
