Australian shares plunged into correction territory on Tuesday, suffering one of their worst days since the pandemic began as a powerful sell-off in equity markets swept the globe.P/ASX 200 Index fell as much as 5.2 per cent in the opening minutes of trade – a tumble that would rank as the worst day since May 2020.P/ASX 200 to end the day down 3.6 per cent, or 246 points, to close at 6686 points. The All Ordinaries benchmark, which tracks a wider range of companies, shed 264 points, to 6881.
Luke McMillan, head of research at Ophir Asset Management said the “indiscriminate” sell-off in Australian shares followed last Friday’s report showing US inflation hit 8.6 per cent in May, the biggest monthly reading since 1981. He said Tuesday’s market moves were a “catch up”.“Inflation was much higher than people were expecting” he said. “There was a narrative building in markets that we may have seen a peak in US inflation.
Damien Klassen, chief investment officer for Nucleus Wealth, said the likelihood of a global recession has sharply escalated because the Fed would have to aggressively tighten monetary policy to reduce inflation.“We don’t think there is a soft landing ahead. We think it’s likely things are pushed too far,” he said.
Ray David, portfolio manager in the Schroders Australian equities team, says May’s surprise inflation report would force central banks to “aggressively raise rates to quash inflation”. Fortescue dropped 8.5 per cent to $19.63, Champion Iron declined 8.8 per cent to $6.73 and BHP fell 4.2 per cent to $44.26.
The big banks extended a sharp decline that began last week to push the financials sector down a further 3.7 per cent. ANZ and NAB both toppled more than 4 per cent. Commonwealth bank fell 2.8 per cent to $91.20, while Westpac dropped 3.7 per cent to $20.“It’s a buyers’ strike today,” said Jun Bei Liu, lead portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment PartnersConsumer staples were among the better performing sectors, falling 1.93 per cent, alongside Communication Services and Utilities.
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