ASX in a world of pain

‘There’s blood in the gutters today’

A THIRD straight day of monster losses for the Australian share market has come close to wiping out the local bourse’s phenomenal gains since the start of the year.

The benchmark S&P/ ASX200 index finished yesterday down 158.5 points, or 2.31 per cent, at 6708.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index plunged 163.1 points, or 2.35 per cent, to 6709.7.

The ASX200 index has lost 431 points — or 6 per cent — this week, taking it back to levels not seen since January 6 and leaving it up just 24 points, or 0.4 per cent, on the year.

With another $53.7 billion in value wiped yesterday, the ASX has lost around $143 billion in value this week as fears mount about coronavirus.

“It’s a very tough day in the office for Australian investors, there’s blood in the gutters today,” said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.

He noted that trading volumes were extraordinarily heavy and the Australian market was suffering the worst among its regional peers.

Tech stocks were down the most, a collective 3.6 per cent, but even the best performing sector, consumer discretionary, fell 1.6 per cent.

“It’s a shocker, there’s no two ways of putting it,” Mr McCarthy said. “Everybody’s getting hurt in this bus crash today.”

While markets had originally not been spooked by the coronavirus epidemic, “that big shift from complacency to concern has really played out in a nasty fashion,” he said.

Just 14 out of the top 200 stocks posted gains yesterday, Mr McCarthy said.

Melbourne biotech company PolyNovo was the biggest ASX200 loser, falling 20.5 per cent after reporting a $2.4 million loss, although that still leaves it up 21.8 per cent on the year. CSL fell 4.1 per cent to $310.59, down from an all-time high of over $340 last week.

Woolworths dropped 2.7 per cent to $40.73 after reporting a 7.7 per cent drop in firsthalf profit, to $887 million.

All of the big banks fell. A few companies posted gains, such as Healius, which rose 15.2 per cent to a threemonth high of $3.18 after announcing a Swiss private equity firm had made a tentative $2 billion takeover offer of $3.40-per-share for the medical centre, pathology and imaging group.