The Australian stock market has suffered its biggest weekly loss in two years, with fears of a recession that have scared investors as central banks raise interest rates to cope with inflation.
The ASX 200 fell 1.8% more on Friday after heavy falls on Wall Street overnight, as investors on Thursday reconsidered a 75 basis point rise in Federal Reserve (AEST) interest rates. its largest increase since 1994.
Friday’s fall marked the first six-day drop in the ASX since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, with a 6.6 percent drop this week being the worst since March 2020.
The local stock market closed at 6,474.8 points, recovering slightly from its sharp 2.7% drop in early trading thanks to a rise in US equity futures. After an hour of trading on Friday, CommSec reported that about 40 percent of the index’s shares were trading at a 52-week low.
ASX has suffered its sixth consecutive day of losses. Credit: Louie Douvis
Mining stocks were hit hard, falling 2.8%, while the interest-sensitive technology sector fell 2.4%. Mining giant BHP fell 3.3% and Fortescue fell more than 5.3%, while Rio Tinto fell 4.2%. South32 fell nearly 6 percent.
The four major banks also fell during the session, and the Commonwealth Bank was the worst, falling more than 3 percent.
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Gold miners were the rare winners, with Evolution Mining among the biggest climbers in the index, which jumped 6.3 percent as investors sought safe commodities. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies continued to fall, with a bitcoin price of $ 20,872 as of Friday, 3:36 p.m., 5.3 percent lower than yesterday.
EToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said the ASX 200 had opened slightly below futures forecasts due to falling commodities and overnight energy stocks. , which make up a large part of the local index.