Big falls in commodity prices and more turmoil on Shanghai’s stock market have pushed Australian shares deep into the red.
Australia’s benchmark indices were one per cent lower at noon after Shanghai tumbled five per cent in early trade, prompting the Chinese government to intervene once more to try and limit selling.
Bloomberg News reported that trading had been halted in more than a third of companies trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets after hundreds of companies requested suspensions.
The moves came after iron ore prices tumbled another 4.6 per cent overnight to below $US50 a tonne.
Nickel also fell nine per cent and copper hit a six-year low.
“At this stage our market is processing the volatility and looking to see where China takes us today,” optionsXpress broker Aaron Lynch said.
The heavy falls on Wednesday came after the Australian stock market enjoyed its best gains in nearly five months during the previous session as investors waited for the next developments in the Greek financial crisis.
“It’s a case of one step forward, another one back,” Chief markets analyst at CMC Ric Spooner said.
“I’m expecting markets to remain weak for remainder of the day.”
Stocks across the board were mainly lower.
Among resources stocks, BHP Billiton was 61 cents lower at $25.64 at 1204 AEST while Rio Tinto had lost $1.10 to $50.64 and Fortescue had shed 6.5 cents to $1.72.
The big banks were all lower, with ANZ down 54 cents to $32.49, the Commonwealth lost $1.05 to $86.64, National Australia Bank was down 42 cents to $33.79 and Westpac shed 36 cents to $33.40.
Online travel group WebJet was among a handful of stocks to make gains after it said it was on track to lift underlying earnings to $27 million.
Webjet climbed 22 cents to $3.27.
Elsewhere, health insurer nib fell 13.5 cents to $3.335 after it announced a $95 million deal to buy travel insurer World Nomads.
KEY FACTS
* At 1204 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 62.7 points, or 1.12 per cent, at 5,518.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 59.2 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 5,504.8 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was 57 points lower at 5,466 points, with 19,331 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 860.9 million securities worth $1.8 billion.
