The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Friday with investors going on a selling spree across the board following a weak lead from Wall Street where stocks fell overnight on weak economic data. Mounting fears about the eurozone economy amid the financial crisis in Greece and Spain too are contributing to the sell-off in the market.
Financial, energy, mining and industrial stocks are mostly down with sharp losses. Property trusts and consumer discretionary stocks are also down on selling pressure.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 89 points or 2.1 percent at 4,068.4. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,121, down 87.5 points or 2.1 percent from its previous close.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton is down 3 percent, Rio Tinto is losing over 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is down more than 7.5 percent, while Newcrest Mining is bucking the trend and trading higher by over 5 percent.
In the energy sector, Caltex Australia is down 4.3 percent, Woodside Petroleum is trading 2.4 percent down, Santos is down 3.2 percent, Oil Search is trading lower by 3 percent and Origin Energy is down with a loss of 1.4 percent.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac are down 1.6 to 2.5 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are also trading sharply lower. Paladin Energy shares are down by about 7 percent.
Aquarius Platinum, Atlas Iron, Whitehaven Coal, Lynas Corporation, Beach Energy, CSR, Onesteel, Leighton Holdings and Monadelphous Group are all trading lower by 4 to 7 percent.
Macquarie Group, Iluka Resources, QBE Insurance Group, Alumina and Sims Metal Management are also trading sharply lower.
PanAust expects production to rise in the coming years after an upgrade of its flagship copper mine. PanAust forecasts production of between 63,000 and 65,000 tonnes of copper in 2012, and expects production in 2013 to be between 65,000 and 70,000 tonnes. The stock is trading lower by about 1.5 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks posted notable losses on Thursday, as traders reacted negatively to a disappointing batch of U.S. economic data. Lingering concerns about the financial situation in Europe also continued to weigh on the markets.
The major averages ended at or near their lows for the session. The Dow declined by 156.1 points or 1.2 percent to 12,442.5, the Nasdaq plummeted 60.3 points or 2.1 percent to 2,813.7 and the S&P 500 dropped 19.9 points or 1.5 percent to 1,304.9. While the Dow and S&P hit their four-month closing lows, the Nasdaq posted its lowest closing level in over three months.
Major European markets too ended notably lower on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX all ended lower by 1.2 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures tumbled to a six-month low on Thursday, paring early gains on some soft economic data from the U.S. Continued worries over the Greece crisis and demand worries following a sharper than expected rise in U.S. oil stockpiles also impacted oil prices.
Crude for June delivery dropped $0.25 or 0.3 percent to close at $92.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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