Australia: Shares slide 3% after US data reaffirms virus pain

[BENGALURU] Australian shares fell 3 per cent on Friday, tracking a broad sell-off on Wall Street overnight as dismal economic data from the United States again highlighted the economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.97 per cent to 5,358.6 by 0030 GMT. The index was off 25.5 per cent from its lifetime high hit on Feb. 20 and down 17.4 per cent for the year.

Millions more Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that layoffs were spreading to industries that were not initially directly impacted by business closures and disruptions, while consumer spending slumped in March.

Investors also locked in profits from recent gains that saw the Australian benchmark index record its first monthly rise in three in April. The bourse has rallied over 20 per cent since March 23, when it slumped to a more than seven-year low.

Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent and Nasdaq gave up 0.3 per cent.

All major sub-indexes on the Australian benchmark traded in the red, with financial stocks, miners, gold stocks and energy firms shedding between 3.5 per cent and 4.6 per cent.

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Shipbuilder Austal was the biggest loser among Australian stocks as it plunged 23 per cent after the US Navy snubbed the company on a contract worth more than US$5.5 billion to build its newest class of warships.

The number of issues on the ASX that advanced were 264 while 822 declined as a 0.3-to-1 ratio favoured decliners. There were 82 new highs and 77 new lows.

In New Zealand, the main S&P/NZX 50 index was roughly flat at 10,535.8.

But shares of SkyCity Entertainment skidded 5.3 per cent after the company warned of a further delay to a key construction project in Auckland.

REUTERS