SYDNEY: Australian stocks declined by 1.8 percent on Tuesday, following a global stocks sell-off after oil plunged to 5-1/2 year lows, leading to a crisis in energy- and mining-related stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 98.1 points to 5,352.2 by 0117 GMT, recording its biggest fall in more than a month. The benchmark rose 0.2 percent on Monday.
Investors ignored Australian trade balance data that showed a smaller-than-feared deficit of A$0.93 billion.
“A number of issues worldwide are again causing uncertainty in equity markets,” said Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities.
“Investors (are) watching closely … U.S. interest rates, growth slowdowns in Europe and the Asia Pacific, political uncertainty in Greece, geopolitical issues between Russia & Ukraine and also the Middle East, and the volatility and crashing prices in crude oil and iron ore.”
Brent and U.S. crude oil prices dropped to their lowest levels since spring 2009, hit by a global supply glut and lacklustre demand.
Energy-related companies such as Sundance Energy Australia, Santos and Oil Search were the worst performers on the index falling 6-8 percent.
Miners also weakened. BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL – news) fell more than 5 percent while Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 – news) was down about 3 percent.
Major Banks fell, with ANZ Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corp falling the most at 1.7 and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere, gold miners outperformed with prices of the yellow metal up more than 1 percent. Shares of gold miners Newcrest Mining, Resolute Mining, Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources rose 2-6 percent.
The fall in oil prices helped Qantas, which rose to its highest level since December 2010.
In the United States, both the Dow and S&P 500 suffered their biggest one-day declines in about three months, and all 10 S&P 500 sectors fell.
New Zealand’s benchmark NZX50 index slipped 31.3 points or 0.6 percent to 5,571.33, easing from a lifetime closing high of 5,602.60 hit on Monday.
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