Market waits for impact of American death rate

THE Australian share market has dropped again amid increasingly dire warnings about how bad the coronavirus crisis could get in the United States.

But in a sign of the times, one analyst called the almost 2 per cent drop a victory for the bullish, in terms of the market not suffering a much broader sell-off.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index finished yesterday down 104.3 points, or 1.98 per cent, at 5154.3, while the All Ordinaries index dropped 102 points, or 1.93 per cent, to 5188.7.

“I don’t think it’s too bad, to be honest,” said Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston. “It could have been a lot worse. It could have been quite an ugly session. It’s a win for the bulls.”

With the White House discussing a coronavirus death toll of up to 240,000 in the United States, losses of up to 4 per cent were on the table, Mr Weston said.

All eyes are on America for signs of how serious the epidemic will get there, even as Australia copes with its own outbreak, Mr Weston said.

“I feel that we’re going to grind from here, rather than have big impulsive moves, for the next week or so,” he said.

The consumer staples and energy sectors were the only winners yesterday, with the financial sector leading the losers with a 4.2 per cent decline.

The big four banks were all lower after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced they wouldn’t be able to receive dividends from their

Kiwi subsidiaries during the coronavirus pandemic.

NAB dropped 5.6 per cent to $16 and ANZ fell 5.3 per cent to $16.15. Commonwealth Bank shed 3.8 per cent to $61.24 as it announced it will make a one-time payment to all customers who are receiving a home loan deferral because of the coronavirus.

Westpac shares fell 4.3 per cent to $15.98..