The share market has suffered one of its biggest falls of the year so far as investors worry about the performance of US companies and instability in Ukraine.
Every sector of the market finished in negative territory, capping off the worst performance in a month, and the third largest one-day fall in 2014.
“The market has taken a belting,” Australian Stock Report head of research Geoff Saffer said.
“We’ve seen some profit taking kicking in and the increased nervousness amongst Australian investors has been on the back of a heavy sell-off of tech stocks in the US,” he said.
The gold sector was the only bright spot, as traders sought safe haven investments.
America’s biggest bank, JP Morgan, missed its profit estimates by almost four per cent last week, which prompted falls by local banking stocks.
ANZ shed 51 cents to $33.34, Westpac also dropped 51 cents to $34.15, National Australia Bank lost 45 cents to $34.88 and Commonwealth Bank was 85 cents weaker at $76.51.
Other financial stocks also lost ground, including QBE, which was down 46 cents to $11.98.
Coca-Cola Amatil continued to fall after Friday’s announcement of a 15 per cent profit downgrade, dropping another 68 cents, or seven per cent, to $9.06.
Telstra finished steady at $5.05 amid talk of better than expected government payments for the NBN.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 69.7 points, or 1.28 per cent, at 5,358.9.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 69.9 points, or 1.29 per cent, at 5,353.6.
* The June share price index futures contract was 75 points lower at 5,345, with 36,060 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $4.2 billion.
