The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 4,621.60 lower by 26 points. The US had a rough night and the Aussie market has dropped significantly on the open.
Harvey Norman [ASX: HVN] is expected to report on their second quarter sales. Even if the news is good don’t expect it to lift the markets today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was hammered overnight, closing at 10,002.18, lower by 268 points or 2.62%.
The Eurozone debt fears become a reality last night as investors dumped their bank and commodity stocks. The jobless rate rose unexpectedly and it appears that January’s bull-run was short lived.
Over in the UK, the FTSE also took a beating last night and finished at 5,139.31 lower by 113 (2.17%). The Footsie reacted badly to the US jobless data as well.
As expected the Bank of England (BoE) did hold rates at 0.50% however investors were surprised that they decided to temporarily halt the quantitative easing program.
The Nikkei was down yesterday by 48 points ending the day at 10,355.98.
Gold copped a beating as well overnight. The metal had its biggest one day loss since 2008, falling a massive USD$45 per ounce.
The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is trading at $1,229.93 while in US Dollars it is trading at $1,065.70. The price of silver in Aussie dollars is $17.69 and in US Dollars it is $15.29.
The Aussie dollar lost ground last night, losing a huge 1.5 cents.
The Aussie dollar versus the US dollar is trading at USD$0.8662, and against the Japanese Yen JPY77.14
Crude Oil had its biggest daily drop since July last year, closing at USD$73.14 down by 4.99%.
For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…
Have great weekend.
Shae.
