Close The Australian sharemarket has finished in the red for an eighth consecutive session, as investors become more worried about the global economic recovery.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 64 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 4237.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 62.1 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 4262.7.
Among the major sectors, materials stocks fell 1.2 per cent, while financials and energy shares both shed 1.6 per cent.
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- Asian shares fall after China data
- The dollar pares losses, trades at 83.6 US cents
- Oil slips below $US75, following shares
- Gold slips to $US1240
- Dow futures are 31 points down at 9685
Miners received a boost from a report on BusinessDay that the Gillard government and the three largest miners - BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata - have made significant progress in talks on the new mining tax, including agreement on key elements.
The market had earlier dropped after data was released from China showing its manufacturing activity continued to grow in June, but at a slower rate than in May.
Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith said losses on the market were more likely driven by bad sentiment coming from Europe, than the data out of China.
‘‘That wasn’t so bad I thought,’’ Mr Smith said of China’s PMI. ‘‘It was regarded as a bit of a sign post but I don’t think it was a negative at all.
‘‘The overall thing is the fear of Europe and Spain in particular, it’s the unknown and fear of the unknown will always unstitch you.’’
Miners fight back
The major miners clawed back some ground after the report on the mining tax compromise, but were still down for the day. Rio Tinto lost $1.56, or 2.3 per cent, to $65.10 and BHP Billiton dropped 54 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $37.11, while Fortescue Metals shed 12 cents to $4.00.
Fortescue plans to appeal a decision by the Australian Competition Tribunal not to force BHP and Rio to open up their main rail lines in Western Australia to third party miners.
Among the big banks, National Australia Bank lost 25 cents to $23.03, Westpac shed 42 cents to $20.81, ANZ dropped 53 cents to $21.08 and Commonwealth ended $1.17 lower at $47.47.
AGL Energy was among the few stocks to rise and is seeking to buy out oil and gas explorer Mosaic Oil NL as part of a strategy to gain control of the target’s gas storage plant in central Queensland.AGL shares gained 29 cents, or 2 per cent, to $14.99. Mosaic shares gained 5.2 cents, or 66.7 per cent, to 13 cents.
Metcash buys Franklins
Grocery and liquor wholesaler Metcash announced it had acquired the Franklins supermarket chain for about $215 million. Metcash shares were up 13 cents, or 3.1 per cent, at $4.32.
Gold stocks made gains, with Newcrest Mining rising 27 cents at $35.37 and Lihir Gold up 2 cents at $4.33.
The highest traded stock by volume was Samson Oil and Gas with 135.7 million shares traded for $6.91 million. Samson shares were up 0.8 cent at 5.2 cents.
Preliminary market turnover was 1.8 billion shares worth $5.19 billion with 449 up, 526 down and 291 unchanged.
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AAP with BusinessDay