The Australian shares went into a panic selling at opening after the freefall in Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell nearly 2.9 per cent in early trade. With the sharp falls, the market so far has lost more than 7.5 per cent for the week, its worst performance in more than 18 months.
Australian shares extended their losses today as the debt issues in Euro zone continued to perplex the global stock markets. The Australian stocks joined the slump in Asian region this morning with a 1.4 per cent fall in S&P/ASX200 index at opening. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed more than 3 per cent in early trade, after the market closed for public holiday for three days.
Australian shares fell significantly this morning after the US and European markets shed on concerns over the euro zone's ability to contain its debt crisis. The S&P/ASX 200 index lost nearly 2 per cent shortly after the market opened. On economic news front, today Australian Industry Group releases performance of service index for April, while Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes building approvals data for March.
The Australian market opened modestly higher today ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision. Material and mining shares continued their losing streak in early trade due to the mining tax concerns. But Wall Street's solid gains overnight helped to support the Australian shares with improving US economic data.
Slump in Australian mining shares dragged the local market lower this morning over worries that a newly unveiled tax on the resources industry could hurt the miners' profits. The drop in local market was also led by the negative lead from US market. Asian stocks also delivered a weak start on Monday. China's central bank on Sunday raised banks' reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to further control the property prices. Chinese markets are closed today for Labour Day holiday.
Friday Asian markets broadly rebounded after Wall Street gained on a string of positive earnings reports. The Australian share market rose 0.5 per cent in early trade with material and financial stocks firmer. Today the Reserve Bank of Australia publishes financial aggregates data for March. The Housing Industry Association releases new home sales report for March.
Today Australian shares continued their losing streak in early trade, despite a positive lead from Wall Street. Yesterday the Asian and Australian market declined massively on the back to credit ratings downgrades for Greece and Portugal. Australian market's decline today was led by financial shares.
