If you’re wondering what the sharemarket and Melbourne had in common today…
The answer is headwinds!
Gusts of up to 68 km/h here while weak Chinese economic data dampens iron ore and oil.
What’s your prediction for the Chinese economy?
Across Markets…
The sharemarket fell 1.2 per cent at the closing bell, in line with Asian bourses, on worries about higher US interest rates and a slowing Chinese economy.
Exacerbating losses were a raft of companies, including BHP, Super Retail Group and Perpetual, trading ex-dividends.
All 11 sectors ended in the red, with mining companies in the lead. Rio Tinto fell 2.5 per cent, Fortescue retreated 2.2 per cent and BHP Group tumbled 5.2 per cent, the worst drop in a year.
Further undermining the sector was a sharp drop in iron ore futures.
Shares in Qantas skidded 2.3 per cent and hit intraday their lowest level since October last year.
Lithium miner and takeover target Liontown, however, soared 9 per cent on speculation that Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, was behind the buying. US lithium heavyweight Albemarle lobbed a non-binding $3 a share bid for Liontown, valuing the company at $6.6 billion.
Shares in shipbuilder Austal jumped 3.2 per cent after it won a $143 million contract with the US Navy.
Bendigo Adelaide Bank rose 0.7 per cent. The regional lender plans to redeem all of its $275 million subordinated notes maturing in November 2028.
All the major banks, however, retreated with ANZ the hardest-hit with a 0.7 per cent loss.