The Australian sharemarket tumbled by as much as 3% on Monday on the back of growing concerns about the US economy as well as the much anticipated interest rate rise tomorrow.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell for the third consecutive day, down 166 points or 2.98% at 5,405.80.
The broader All Ordinaries Index lost 164 points to end at 5,510.70.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March Share Price Index contract was 154 points lower at 5410 a volume of 21794 contracts.
The big banks were sharply down following falls in Friday trading in the US, where the Dow dropped 315.79 points or2.51%.. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index also lost 2.7% to 1,330.72 while the Nasdaq composite shed 60.09 points or 2.58% to end at 2,271.48.
Today, the Commonwealth Bank lost $2.01 to $40.12, ANZ shed $1 to $21, Westpac fell 57 cents to $22.75, and NAB plunged $1.36 to $27.49
Investors had a few more interim results to sift through today, with the much anticipated transport infrastructure group Asciano delivering a $71.1 million loss. Its securities plunged to an all-time low of $4.53, and finished at $4.58, a fall of nearly 8% from Friday’s close.
Allco shares fell 27.59%, or 24 cents to 63 cents after the debt-laden company was sold off after its founder quit.
City Pacific shares fell by more than 21.43% to $1.925 after the company released a new set of accounts on Friday, which showed a worse position than was previously stated.
Zinifex was an exception to the market, rising 9.6% to $12.20 after announcing a merger with Oxiana.
Gold continued on its upward journey, with Comex Gold hitting $983.10 an ounce at 4.08PM AEDT.
