Australian Stock Market Drops to 19-Month Low

A pedestrian is reflected in the window of the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 25, 2022. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has plummeted to the lowest level since November 2020 as international markets fell due to intensified worries about the world economy.

As of noon on June 17, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 2.23 percent to 6,452.9, while All Ordinaries went down 2.12 percent to 6,641.7.

“The backdrop for equities right now is about as bad as it gets,” City Index analyst Tony Sycamore wrote in his morning note.

“Central banks’ determination to break the back of spiralling inflation at the cost of growth likely guarantees a recession during the first half of 2023.”

Stock market performance in the week commencing June 13 was even worse than the prior week, which has made headlines as ASX’s worst week since October 2020.

A man looks at the electronic display of stocks at the Australian Stock Exchange on March 13, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images

The ASX200 fell 11.1 percent in June and 15.6 percent from its all-time high in August 2021.

It is noteworthy that almost all industries were down on June 17, with the technology sector dropping the most by 4.3 percent.

The stock price of BHP–Australia’s largest company, dipped 2.98 percent to $42.59 (US$29.83), while its rival Rio Tinto’s price slipped 3.87 percent to $107.90.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia saw its share prices drop 2.8 percent to $87.72, a 14-month low, and other major banks were also down by 1.5 to three percent.

Block, which owns Afterpay, tumbled 7.2 percent, while accounting software company Xero and retailer Harvey Norman dropped to two-year lows of $73.40 and $3.59, respectively.

At the same time, other popular names such as Woolworths, Goodman Group, Dexus, Seek, Breville and JB Hi-Fi plunged to 52-week lows.

A small number of well-performing shares on the Australian stock market on June 17 belonged to gold miners, with the share prices of Evolution and Northern Star going up by 4.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Nevertheless, junior miner Dacian Gold’s stock price plummeted by a third to 11 cents following the announcement that it had suspended open-pit mining at its Mt Morgans goldmine in Western Australia due to ballooning cost pressures.