18 hours Ago By Daniel Newell
Aussie investors are in for another horror day on the local share market, with the leading index opening sharply lower following a tariff-induced bloodbath in the US overnight. The second day of the selloff on Australia’s S&P-ASX200 was sparked by the the largest one-day percentage losses on US markets since 2020 — fuelled by fears President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are about to upend the global economy and plunge his country’s economy into recession. The S&P-ASX200 plunged almost 2 per cent in the opening minutes to 7705.
6 points — down 155.10. Mining and energy stocks were the early casualties — both down almost 6 per cent.
IT stock tumbled 2 per cent and industrials were off by the same margin. Only four of the market’s 11 sectors managed to escape the carnage and eked out small gains — telcos the best performers with a one per cent jump. A combined $US2.
4 trillion ($3t)in stock market value was wiped off S&P500 companies, as the benchmark took a savage beating from nervous traders. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had also not had a worse one-day collapse since June 2020, dropping more than 1680 points — nearly 4 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite posted its largest percentage decline on any day since the COVID-19 pandemic sent global markets into a tailspin in March 2020.
As much as $55 billion was wiped from Australian stock values in early trading on Thursday — just hours after Mr Trump’s make his so-called “liberation Day” address at the White House — with the sharp local losses mirrored on other regional share markets. The S&P-ASX200 lost as much as 2.1 per cent before halving its losses to close 0.
94 per cent lower at 7859.7 points. While Mr Trump levied the baseline 10 per cent tariff on Australia, investors are fearful of the fallout on the local economy from higher US levies on Australia’s major trading partners, notably China, which has been hit with a new 34 per cent tariff, on top of an existing 20 per cent levy.
China vowed retaliation, as did the European Union, which faces a 20 per cent duty. South Korea, Mexico, India and several other trading partners said they would hold off for now as they seek concessions before the targeted tariffs take effect on April 9. Global financial advisory group deVere said the US tariffs would lift prices higher on thousands of everyday goods, from phones to food, fuelling inflation “at a time when it is already uncomfortably persistent”.
“This is how you sabotage the world’s economic engine while claiming to supercharge it,” deVere chief executive Nigel Green said. “It’s a seismic day for global trade. Trump is blowing up the post-war system that made the US and the world more prosperous, and he’s doing it with reckless confidence.
” More to come.
