Australian shares are weaker as Wall Street volatility hits all local sectors.
The miners are suffering the heaviest falls as gold and oil prices fell, Australian Stock Report senior equity analyst Benny Sada says.
“The miners have taken a bigger hit than the banks – most commodities declined last night,” he told AAP.
Australian shares are weaker across all sectors after Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record 16,000 points before finishing just 0.09 per cent higher as the broader US S&P 500 shed 0.37 per cent.
“It’s a market-wide sell-off today,” Mr Sada said.
“All the sectors are in negative territory today, it’s not just one sector.”
Of the big miners, BHP Billiton lost 18.5 cents to $37.77, Rio Tinto shed 62 cents to $65.03 and Fortescue Metals was three cents weaker at $5.86.
The major banks were all weaker, with Westpac down 15 cents at $32.72, ANZ down 18 cents to $31.92, Commonwealth Bank eased 54 cents to $76.80 while National Australia Bank lost 10 cents to $34.26.
Property group GPT was flat at $3.68 after making a $3 billion counter bid for Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) five weeks after rival Dexus and a Canadian pension fund proposed a buy-out.
Engineering group Leighton Holdings lost 17 cents to $16.68 after work safety agency Comcar announced it would launch a Federal Court case against subsidiary John Holland over the death of a worker on Brisbane’s Airport Link toll road.
KEY FACTS
* At 1025 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 28 points, or 0.52 per cent, at 5,356.7.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 26.2 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 5,351.7.
* The December share price index futures contract was 33 points lower at 5,365 with 8,313 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 201.2 million securities worth $354.9 million.
