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After big-name miners and retail stocks took a knock on Thursday, the Australian sharemarket lost 0.7 percent, its worst showing in a week.
The ASX 200 index fell 49.3 points to conclude at 7105.9 points, while the wider All Ordinaries index fell 52.4 points to close at 7339.3 points, down 0.7 percent.
Rio Tinto down 1.1 percent to $110.78, BHP fell 0.9 percent to $42.62, and Fortescue Metals fell 3.7 percent to $19.92, all of which were impacted by a dip in iron ore prices.
China’s “economic slump was spiralling through the safety nett of fiscal stimulus, with no end in sight to the country’s Covid Zero plan,” according to City Index analyst Tony Sycamore.
Mr Sycamore stated, “This was underscored by Premier Li Keqiang, who remarked overnight (on Wednesday): ‘Economic indicators in China have fallen dramatically, and challenges in some parts and to a certain extent are bigger than when the pandemic hit us hard in 2020.’
After revealing that labour markets remained tight and overall coal sales had reduced during the quarter, coal miner Whitehaven slid 4.7 percent to $5.04 and New Hope fell 7.8 percent to $3.78.
Retailers were also forced to close their doors. Woolworths was down 2.6 percent at $34.17, Coles was down 2.2 percent at $17.60, and Wesfarmers was down 1.8 percent at $45.98.
