The Australian market has opened sharply lower following a slide on Wall Street over concerns U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly tried to interfere with a federal investigation.
The Australian market has opened sharply lower following a slide on Wall Street over concerns U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly tried to interfere with a federal investigation.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 1.2 per cent after the first half hour of trade, with financial and healthcare stocks leading the losses.
"This is not a surprise because of the poor leads we got from Wall Street and our market is simply following suit," Australian Stock Report's head of trading Chris Conway said.
"This has been triggered by the fiasco regarding Trump and Comey."
Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Dow notched their biggest one-day fall since Sept. 9 as investor hopes for tax cuts and other pro-business policies faded following a media report that Mr Trump tried to interfere with an FBI investigation by asking now-fired bureau director James Comey to drop the matter, setting off alarm bells.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.78 per cent, while the S&P 500 lost 1.82 per cent.
In the local market, US-focused healthcare stocks were the worst affected, with CSL Ltd and Ansell down between one and two per cent.
Financial stocks continued to be under pressure, with each of the big four banks trading more than a per cent lower.
Mining and energy shares added to the gloom, with BHP Billiton, Fortescue, Woodside, Santos and Oil Search all in the red.
James Hardie shares were down nearly four per cent at $20.78 after the building products group said margins continued to be affected by capacity start-up costs at the North American business
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was slightly higher after falls in the US dollar overnight amid the turmoil in the White House.
Traders are waiting for key employment data due later on Thursday. By 1036 AEST, the local currency was trading at 74.28 US cents, up from 74.22 US cents on Wednesday.
ON THE ASX:
* At 1036 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 69.9 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 5,716.1 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 67.9 points, or 1.17 per cent, at 5,753.3 points.
* The June SPI200 futures contract was down 62 points, or 1.07 per cent, at 5,720 points.
* National turnover was 612 million securities traded worth $1.48 billion.
CURRENCY UPDATE:
* The Australian dollar was trading at 74.28 US cents at 1036 AEST, up from 74.22 US cents on Wednesday.
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEST previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session)
