ASX 1.3pc into the red after Wall Street wipe-out led by tech stocks (2024)

• ASX 200: -1.29% to 7,861 points (live values below)
  
• Australian dollar: -0.47% to 65.50 US cents
  
• Hang Seng: - 1.88% to 16,985 points
• Shanghai: -0.61% to 2,883 points
• Nikkei: -3.28% to 37,869 points
• S&P 500: -2.3% to 5,427 points
• Nasdaq: -3.64% to 17,342 points
• FTSE: -0.17% to 8,153 points
• Spot gold:-0.97% to $US2,374/ounce
• Brent crude: +0.27% to $US81.49/barrel
• Bitcoin:-2.9% to $US64,125

Prices current at 4.30pm AEST.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

That's it from me, dear readers.

This is my final post on my last shift on the markets blog.

The blog is here to stay, but I've found my way off the shift from here.

I'll bring you all the week's business news on Close of Business tomorrow though!

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments each time I'm on this shift - so please keep them coming for the rest of the team.

I'll probably pop in with some guest posts from time to time, but for now, thanks and farewell!

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Market analyst Kyle Rodda from capital.com has put out a neat note to end the day.

Here is his take on the action.

"It has been quite some time since something really shook the tree and caused a scare in the markets. Wall Street was tangibly due for a big down day: it was approaching several years since the S&P 500 had experienced a greater than 2% single-day decline. That ignominious milestone was achieved overnight, weighing on equities across the Asian region, including the ASX200, which broke through critical support around 7,900 today.

The price action is the typical risk-on/risk-off binary: stocks are down, commodities are down, high-beta currencies are down, and funding currencies are up. In particular, the Japanese Yen is soaring, with speculation that the rally has sparked a short squeeze. It would appear that this has subsequently forced deleveraging amongst investors, who've had to liquidate other positions, namely in equities and gold, to cover losses. Shorting the Yen has been one of the more profitable trades for traders for several years; the technicals signal that the uptrend of the USDJPY might be finally reversing.

China delivered another surprise rate cut today, this time to its 1-year MLF, which, for the time being, is the PBOC's preferred policy rate. The cut suggests that China is taking its anemic economic situation more seriously as doubts increase about whether it will achieve its "about 5%" GDP target. However, the reduction, like most recent measures to manage the economy, is incremental. There was limited reaction in the markets, although it may keep downward pressure on the Yuan and, therefore, the Australian Dollar."

Kyle will be my guest on Close of Business tomorrow where we'll discuss this big week on markets.

I hope you'll catch us on your screens (available any time on ABC iview).

So it was definitely a downer on the ASX today, as we tracked Wall Street lower.

The ASX200 closed 1.29% lower at 7,861 points.

Here's how the day looked in chart form.

At one point all sectors were in the red, but Academic and Educational Services managed to claw back a little to be the only sector to close in the positive.

Here are the worst 10 performing stocks on the ASX200 today.

But there are always two sides to every coin, so here are the top 10 stocks.

Reporting by Kristian Silva

There is insufficient evidence to prove the controversial weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, the Federal Court has ruled.

Roundup's parent companies Monsanto and Bayer were taken to court in a major class action, with hundreds of Australians claiming their exposure to the product's active ingredient, glyphosate, caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

After hearing evidence in a lengthy trial, Justice Michael Lee said on the balance of probabilities, the plaintiffs failed to prove that the products caused cancer.

Justice Lee acknowledged there were mixed views in the scientific community about the risks of Roundup, and said further research could provide a more definitive answer.

The lawsuit against Monsanto and Bayer has now been dismissed.

Australia's gold sub-index has fallen as much as 2.3% today, in its worst day since June 19.

As gold prices fell on profit-taking from investors ahead of key US economic data, shares of gold miners also sank.

Evolution Mining was down as much as 3.4% while Northern Star Resources fell as much as 2.4%, today.

But it wasn't completely widespread Newmont Corp hit a record high after posting Q2 profit above analysts' estimate.

The sub-index is up 11.6% YTD, as of yesterday's close.

American broadcaster NBC is reporting former US President Barack Obama plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic 2024 presidential candidate.

According to Reuters, Obama privately has fully supported Harris' candidacy and has been in regular contact with her, the report said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

"Aides to Obama and Harris also have discussed arranging for the two of them to appear together on the campaign trail, though no date has been set," the report said.

With no one stepping up to challenge Harris for the nomination, she won the backing of party delegates on Monday, a day after President Joe Biden announced that he was dropping his reelection bid.

Japan's Nissan Motor has slashed its annual outlook after posting a 99% drop in first-quarter operating profit.

It falls short of analyst estimates and sent its shares sharply lower.

Operating profit for the April-June period was 995 million yen ($9.96 million), compared with 128.6 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

The automaker cut its operating profit forecast for the financial year by 17% to 500 billion yen from 600 billion yen.

Alicia Barry is in The Business chair tonight and she'll be bringing you a very full show.

• Anna Milne from Wilson Asset Management will talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars wiped off the ASX today
• ANZ confirms several people have been sacked or suspendedamid ongoing investigations in the bond trading scandal
• Samuel Yanglooks at high energy demanding data centres and Alicia delves deeper on this with UTS director of research Gordon Noble
• And Alicia unpicks the cost of hosting an Olympic Games, with Andrew Budzier from Oxford Economics

Catch the show on your screens from tonight.

The ASX has been well past 1% into the red most of the day.

With less than an hour of trade, I suspect we'll close about there too.

I'll be back with final numbers once they settle.

After eight years of financial heartbreak and court battles, the liquidator of Clive Palmer's former Queensland Nickel refinery says it has paid the company's creditors in full.

The Yabulu Nickel Refinery, owned by Queensland Nickel Industries, was the Townsville region's largest private employer when it collapsed in 2016, owing hundreds of millions of dollars.

More than 700 workers lost their jobs.

Liquidator FTI says outstanding creditors had been paid $300 million.

You can read more about this below.

After climbing to a six-month high two weeks ago, the Australian dollar has since tumbled, as fears mount about the economic health of our largest trading partner, China.

After trading well above $US200 ($305) per tonne during the pandemic, the price of Australia's most lucrative export, iron ore, has fallen to under $US110 per tonne.

Key to the weakness in the iron ore price is the lack of steel being produced in China for housing construction.

My colleague David Taylor has written more, below.

Hi Andy,

That's a very good question.

The ASX website and the Refinitiv market service we use seem to have different sector names.

I've posted screen grabs of each for you - both grabbed at 2.42pm AEST.

Iron ore futures prices have lost even more ground.

Strong global supply and the persistently weak steel market in top consumer China, are weighing on prices.

Although hints of heavier monetary stimulus in China helped limit losses.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange fell for a fifth straight session to close morning trade with a loss of nearly 1% to 769 yuan (US$105.93) a metric ton.

The benchmark August iron ore SZZFQ4 on the Singapore Exchange fell below the key psychological level of US$100 a ton to hit an intraday low of US$99.2 a ton.

Regional steel trading associations in China are seeking new quality standards for steel rebar, used in construction, to be delayed after a wave of panic inventory sell-downs pressured the ferrous market.

A slew of Chinese data last week shows an accelerating pace of contraction in floor space under construction, completions and property prices, meaning hyped-up government policies to mop up excess housing inventories are having a muted impact.

Australia's Fortescue forecast higher iron ore shipments for fiscal 2025in its production update today and posted a 24% sequential rise to record shipments in the fourth quarter.

It's one of the poorest performers on the ASX today.

• FMG -5.02% to $20.25
• BHP -0.26% to $41.45
• Rio Tinto -0.66% to $113.67

Japan's Nikkei has suffered the biggest dive in our region today.

As of about 2pm AEST it's down 3.13% to 37,9725 points.

The yen's gain against major currencies hurt investor sentiment, while chip-related stocks tracked their US peer's decline.

"The market turned cautious about the yen's gain against the dollar and other major currencies.

"That hurt investor sentiment," said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities.

"And worries about the US economic slowdown seemed to have sent Wall Street lower overnight," Tsuboi added.

Technology investor SoftBank Group slipped 7.61% to drag the Nikkei the most.

Chip-related shares fell, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest declining 4.49% and 7.23%, respectively.

Renesas Electronics slumped 16.72% to its daily limit low after the chip maker reported a 29% decline in a net profit for six months to June.

The yen rose to its highest level in 2.5 months, as traders abandoned short yen bets in the run-up to the Bank of Japan's July meeting, where a rate hike remains on the cards.

I love the Olympics - the team atmosphere, the excitement, the competition, the reward, the culture - all of it really.

So I'll be keen to see all the highlights as they come through (I don't love it enough to sacrifice sleep).

What events are you keen to see?

Tonight on The Business, Alicia Barry speaks to Andrew Budzier about the economics of the Olympics.

He's the author of an Oxford Economics study about this very issue.

They're not cheap to host, as we know with the Commonwealth Games (not looking at you Victoria), and there are often very costly overruns.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!🙌

Here are the worst performing stocks today.

Here are the top stocks.

Well the ASX charts are now all red.

All 11 sectors are lower today.

IT is down 2.57%, while the best of the worst is Consumer Staples is lower by 0.17%.

Australian energy stocks have fallen as much as 0.8% to their lowest level since June 25.

The sub-index is on track for its sixth straight session of losses.

Globally, oil prices eased on concerns over weak demand in China and expectations of a nearing ceasefire deal in the Middle East.

Shares of Australian oil and gas producer Santos have fallen as much as 1.5% to $7.78, their lowest level since July 3.

The sub-index has fallen 7.2% this year, as of last close.

Australian IT stocks have fallen as much as 2.8% today, their lowest since June 21.

The sub-index posts its biggest intraday per cent fall since July 18.

It comes after the Nasdaq ended at multi-week lows on Wednesday as lacklustre earnings from Google parent Alphabet and Tesla undermined investor confidence in megacap names.

Dometically, shares of Xero are down as much as 3.4%, on track for worst day in seven weeks, if those losses hold.

As WiseTech Global falls 3.4%.

The sub-index has risen 26.6% this year, as of last close.