Market meltdown
The ASX 200 lost 3.7%, Japanese stocks recorded their worst session since 1987 and cryptocurrencies plunged. One strategist described it as "the correction we had to have".
On Friday, the boundless optimism that has carried markets higher all year was put to the sword. On Monday, the bleeding only worsened.
The ASX closed down 3.7%, extending its Friday losses and wiping out most of this year’s gains. Elsewhere in the region, things were even worse. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 12.4%, the worst one-day fall since 1987, while Bitcoin at the time of publication was down 11.5%.
“It’s looking like the correction we had to have,” GFSM investment strategist Stephen Miller told Capital Brief, listing off three major concerns.
“People are beginning to doubt the AI and tech thematic that drove markets in the first half of the year. The [US] payroll numbers on Friday suggest the economy is slowing faster than we thought. And the geopolitical risks are beginning to reassert themselves as investors worry if Iran is going to attack Israel.”
