ASX suffers biggest drop in eight months on global recession fears
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The news: The ASX 200 ended 2.44% lower as new US tariffs triggered fears of a global recession and saw the Australian dollar drop sharply against the greenback.
Oil majors Santos (-9.4%) and Woodside Energy (-9.1%) were among the hardest hit as crude prices tumbled, taking the energy sector 8% lower.
Tech stocks (-6.4%) tracked major declines on the Nasdaq overnight, with Life360 (-9.8%), Technology One (-9.4%) and WiseTech Global (-8.5%) all seeing sizeable losses.
Staples (2.4%) was the only sector in the green as supermarket giants Woolworths (3.4%) and Coles (4.1%) climbed.
The ASX 200 closed at 7,667.8, with 10 of 11 sectors finishing in the red.
The Australian dollar fell 1.3% against the US dollar and is buying 62.4 US cents.
Biggest ASX 200 movers:
- Amotiv (-16.7%) — Warned of weaker full-year revenue and earnings on the back of muted demand in its major segments.
- Capricorn Metals (5.2%) — Upgraded to 'buy' by Goldman Sachs, which believes the gold miner holds "increasingly compelling projects economics" and relative valuation compared to its peers.
Other news:
- Insignia Financial (-5.3%) — Detected suspicious activity on around 100 of its customers' accounts amid a wider co-ordinated cyberattack on some of the country's largest superannuation funds.
- Ansell (3%) — Said it plans to "fully offset" new US tariffs through increased pricing on its products, after shares tumbled 14% on Thursday.
- Magellan Financial Group (-6%) — Reported a 2.8% drop in assets under management in March, as net outflows reached $600 million.
- Bellevue Gold (suspended) — Its shares will remain voluntarily suspended from quotation ahead of a potential reduction to its full-year production guidance.
What's ahead:
- Tuesday — Westpac will release its monthly consumer confidence report and NAB will publish its business confidence report.
- Thursday — The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its monthly and yearly inflation figures.
