The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Thursday with investors pressing heavy sales almost across the board, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks plummeted overnight after the Federal Reserve hinted at winding up its stimulus program by mid-2014.
Financial, mining, energy, industrial, consumer discretionary and property trusts stocks are mostly trading notably lower, while shares from the information technology and healthcare sectors are trading firm.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which tumbled to 4,790.6 in early trades, is currently trading at 4,806, down 55.4 points or 1.1 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is down 54 points or 1.1 percent at 4,788.2, off an early low of 4,774.4.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are down 1.2 to 2 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are down 1.4 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton (BHP) is down 1.8 percent, Rio Tinto (RIO) is trading lower by 2.3 percent, Newcrest Mining is down with a loss of 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing about 4 percent.
Energy stocks Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search, Origin Energy and Caltex Australia are trading lower by 1 to 2.2 percent.
Perseus Mining is trading nearly 8 percent down and PanAust is down by over 5 percent. ALS, Leighton Holdings, Regis Resources, Qantas Airways, Goodman Group, Downer EDI, Iluka Resources, Mirvac Group and Arrium are down 3 to 4 percent.
Investa Office Fund, Mineral Resources, Boral, CFS Retail Property Trust, David Jones and Asciano are trading lower by 2.3 to 3 percent.
New Newscorp Inc., which made a weak debut on Wednesday, is trading nearly 20 percent up. QBE Insurance Group, the other prominent gainer, is up almost 6 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar plunged sharply against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the local unit was quoting at US$0.9294, down 2 percent from Wednesday's close of US$0.9491.
On Wall Street, stocks declined sharply on Wednesday as a negative reaction to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement weighed on the markets. The relatively upbeat comments regarding the economic outlook added to recent concerns about the Fed tapering its asset purchase program in the near future.
The major averages saw some volatility following the announcement from the Fed, closing firmly in the red. The Dow plunged 206 points or 1.4 percent to 15,112.2, the Nasdaq tumbled 39 points or 1.1 percent to 3,443.2 and the S&P 500 plummeted 22.9 points or 1.4 percent to 1,628.9.
Major European markets too ended weak on Wednesday. While the French CAC 40 index declined by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index both ended the day down by 0.4 percent.
U.S. crude oil settled lower on Wednesday, after the Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed a better-than-expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. Crude for July delivery ended down $0.20 or 0.2 percent at $98.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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