The Australian share market is lower after weak manufacturing data from the world’s two biggest economies sparked a sell-off in resources stocks.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said weak US and Chinese manufacturing figures had rocked investors’ confidence in the global growth outlook.
Both reports showed that factory activity has been contracting at a faster rate than economists had expected, and led to oil and iron ore prices slumping overnight.
As a result, miners and energy players are leading losses on the local bourse on Tuesday.
BHP Billiton’s share price was further hit after Standard & Poor’s lowered its credit rating.
At 1200 AEDT, BHP was down 13 cents at $15.12, Rio Tinto was down 45 cents at $38.52, while Fortescue Metals was down 1.5 cents at $1.66.
Santos was down nearly two per cent, or six cents, at $2.99, while Woodside Petroleum dropped 1.76 per cent, or 49 cents, to $27.42.
The big four banks were flat.
The Reserve Bank’s interest rate decision, due at 1430 AEDT, is widely expected to keep the cash rate on hold at a record low of two per cent.
KEY FACTS:
* At 1200 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 33.3 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 5,010.3 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 32.7 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 5,061.6 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was down 36 points at 4,966 points, with 17,509 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 619 million securities traded worth $1.12 billion.
