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Syria conflict hits Aussie share market

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The Australian share market has suffered its steepest one-day fall in three weeks as speculation about a US military strike on Syria hits the big miners.

CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said the uncertainty battered risk sentiment in the US and Europe, sparking a one per cent fall on the local market.

“The last time we saw this sort of margin was the 7th of August,” he said.

“The biggest driver at the moment: tensions in Syria; the potential for a US-led military strike is not doing much for equity markets globally.

“Generally speaking, when there are concerns about what is taking place offshore, if there are concerns surrounding growth or uncertainty, it tends to see the mining sector not doing well.”

BHP Billiton shed 80 cents to $34.80, Rio Tinto was down $1.58 at $58.16, and Fortescue Metals lost 19 cents to $4.22.

But Australia’s biggest gold miner Newcrest finished flat at $13.74 as the geopolitical tensions pushed up gold prices to a 12-week high.

AGL Energy gained 71 cents, or 4.94 per cent, to $15.08 after its full year net profit more than tripled to $388.7 million despite higher one-off costs.

Among the big four banks, ANZ was down 24 cents at $29.64, Commonwealth Bank shed $1.22 to $72.25, National Australia Bank was 34 cents lower at $32.32 and Westpac lost 50 cents to $31.11.

In the supermarket space, Woolworths had gained 68 cents to $34.59 after reporting a six per cent rise in full year net profit to $2.35 billion.

But smaller grocery wholesaler Metcash shed 20 cents, or 5.8 per cent, to $3.25 after chief executive Ian Morrice told shareholders price competition between Coles and Woolworths was hurting independent players.

KEY FACTS

* At 1615 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 54 points, or 1.05 per cent, at 5,087.2 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 52.8 points, or 1.03 per cent, at 5,078.0 points.

* The September share price index futures contract was down 54 points at 5,069 points, with 24,726 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 1.7 billion securities worth $4.4 billion.