Local shares were down nearly 2% in the first few hours of the new financial year. Losses were broad-based with a negative lead from Wall Street and a drop in commodity prices triggering the sell-off.
With the new financial year comes a slew of economic reports with PMI, retail sales, building approvals and commodity prices all due out today.
At lunch, the All Ords was down 75.8 to 3,872, while the ASX/200 had retreated 80.3 points to 3,874.6. Over 700 million shares, or $1.4 billion had changed hands.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shed 2.8% each to lead the broader Materials and Resources sector down 2.9%.
Fortescue shed 3.4%, with OZ Minerals down 2.2%.
Gold miners Lihir, Newcrest and Sino Gold shed 2%, 1.4% and 4.4% as the sub-sector reacted to the sharp drop in the price of gold overnight.
Steelmakers Onesteel and Bluescope retreated 1.2% and 1.6% respectively.
Sims Metal Management and Aquarius Platinum were both 5.1% below the line.
James Hardie and Boral gave up 1.4% and 2.2%, while chemicals and explosives manufacturers Orica and Incitec Pivot lost 4% and 2.5% respectively.
Energy stocks also lost ground after the price of crude dropped back below US$70 per barrel overnight.
Woodside Petroleum retreated 1.5%, while Origin and Santos lost 1.4% and 1.3% respectively.
The broader Energy sector shed 1.5%.
Oil Search lost a modest 0.2%.
The volatile Felix Resources was 2.7% cheaper, while Karoon Gas was down 3.3%. Beach Petroleum climbed 2.5%.
Uranium specialists were mixed with ERA down 4.5% and Paladin Energy putting on 1.6%.
Banks and Financials were broadly lower, with the sector giving up 2.0% overall. Among the banks ANZ, NAB and Macquarie Group lost 1.6%, 2.8% and 3.1%.
CBA and Westpac lost 2.3% and 2.8% respectively.
IAG was the only major insurer above the line, up 0.9%, while AXA Asia Pacific, QBE and Suncorp-Metway down 2.6%, 1.6% and 2.2% respectively.
Challenger Financial Services Group shares were down 4.5%.
Property Trusts were off 2.3%. Westfield was off 2.5%, while Stockland dropped 3.4%. Mirvac shed 1.9%.
Lend Lease drifted 1.7% lower.
Consumer Staples lost 1%, with heavyweights Woolworths and Wesfarmers easing 0.9% and 1.9% respectively.
Beverage stocks, Coca-Cola Amatil and Fosters lost 0.7% and 1.9%, while Lion Nathan was one of the few stocks in the sector to advance, adding 0.2%.
ABB Grain and AWB lost 1.1% and 1.7%.
Consumer Discretionary lost 2% on the back of retailers, which suffered following a drop in consumer confidence data out of the US.
JB Hi-Fi, Billabong and Harvey Norman fell 3.6%, 3.1% and 3% respectively.
David Jones, which yesterday added more than 10%, was down 2.9%.
Newscorp and Fairfax were down 3% and 2% respectively, while gamers Crown and Tabcorp both lost more than 2%.
Telecommunications lost 1.8%, on the back of a 2.1% drop in the price of Telstra shares.
The Industrials sector also retreated 1.8%. Brambles and Qantas gave up 1%.
Leightons lost 2.5%, CSR gave up 2.1% and Transurban shed 2.4%.
Toll Holdings was unchanged at lunch, while Macquarie satellites, Macquarie Airports and Macquarie Infrastructure Group shed 3.5% and 2.1% respectively.
The Healthcare sector slid 1.2%, on the back of a 0.9% drop in CSL.
Utilities and Information Technology lost 1.1% and 3% respectively.
Around the region, the Nikkei 225 added 19.1 to 9,977.5, the Straits Times Index lost 7.2 to 2,325.9 and NZSE50 was down 14.8 to 2,781.3. The Hang Seng was closed for a holiday.
Spot gold was trading at US$928.60 per ounce and the Aussie was buying US$0.8044.
Suncorp appoints Snowball as CEO
Suncorp-Metway has appointed Patrick Snowball as the group’s chief executive officer. The company said Mr Snowball’s background includes 19 years as an executive with UK insurance group Aviva and more recently a deputy chairman and chairman’s role with Towergate for the past two years.
At noon, Suncorp shares were down 13c to $6.57.
Hastings to tap market for $250m
Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund said it would seek to raise around $250 million through the issue of new capital as a part of broad range of capital management initiatives announced today. The fund said the money raised would be used to retire $80m in debt, with $50m in proceeds being used for the proposed expansion of Epic Energy’s South West Queensland Pipeline (SWQP).
Hastings Diversified shares were halted at $1.185.
CPA off-loads Brisbane office for $110m
Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) said it had agreed to sell its property at 300 Queen Street, Brisbane for $110m. The sale, to a private investor, represents an initial yield of 8.35%, although a 16.7% discount to the 31 March 2009 book value of $132 million.
At midday, CPA shares were down 2.5c to 80.5c.
Clive Peeters closes Strategic Review
Clive Peeters has decided to bring its Strategic Review process to an end after the company said it had not yet produced an acceptable outcome that represents shareholder value, or is in the best interests of shareholders. The company said its preferred outcome was a re-capitalisation of the company, however the current economic environment had made this difficult.
At lunchtime, Clive Peeters shares were down 3c to 15c.
FEA sales total $23m for the year
Forest Enterprises Australia shares slumped over 7% Wednesday morning after the company said the sales of its managed forestry investment products in 2008/09 totalled approximately $23m. The company also said revenues from timber sales and plantation establishment in FY09 are expected to significantly exceed those from FY08.
At noon, FEA shares were down 1c to 13c.
