The Australian Stock Exchange has fallen dramatically this morning, after the impact of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 on international trade and supply chains led to a sharp decline in markets last week. The ASX ended the week at 6,508 points, down almost 10%, to wipe out all the year’s gains.
The ASX continued to slide after markets opened this morning, after figures coming out of China – the epicentre of the epidemic – on the weekend showed that industrial activity had fallen there. At 10.15 AEDT this morning, the ASX 200 was down 2.18%, and the broader All Ordinaries had dropped by 2.26%, but had recovered somewhat by noon to tip over the 6,300 points mark for the ASX 200 and was just shy of 6,400 for the All Ords.
Today’s sharemarket slide follows more falls on Wall Street on Friday. The US is suffering its biggest share market declines since the global financial crisis.