ASX Wipes Out $60b in Second-Worst Day This Year
The Australian sharemarket suffered its second-biggest drop this year on Tuesday as investors erased $60 billion in value on growing anxiety about chip giant Nvidia’s upcoming results and concerns that interest rates in the US won’t fall soon.
Losses accelerated in afternoon trading with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing down 167.3 points, or 1.9%, to 8469.1, the lowest level since late June. It was the worst session since US President Donald Trump unleashed hefty tariffs early April, erasing trillions of dollars in stock value globally. The All Ordinaries shed 2%.
“A perfect storm has hit the ASX 200, with investors bracing for Nvidia’s make-or-break earnings and the all-important US September jobs report early Friday morning AEDT,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
Nvidia, the world’s largest company by market value, which is at the heart of Wall Street’s artificial intelligence trade, will report after the bell on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT). Its shares fell 1.9% on Monday and were the biggest drag on the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
On the ASX, all 11 sectors finished in the red. Since hitting a record high late October, the index has shaved off more than 7%, wiping out a total of $220 billion in value.
Leading the market rout was the technology sector, down 6%, bringing this month’s losses to a staggering 17%. At the epicentre of the meltdown was Technology One, which plunged 17.2% to $29.26 after its annual recurring revenue for 2025 fell short of expectations and declined to provide guidance for 2026.
Defence market darling DroneShield fell 5.8% to $2.45 and WiseTech hit a two-year low of $62.63, down 4.6%.
Investors continued to rotate out of the banks. Commonwealth Bank fell 1.7% to $153.22, National Australia Bank lost 2% to $40.6 and Westpac dived 3% to $37.87. ANZ shed 0.9% to $35.85.
The big mining groups fell despite the price of iron ore holding steady near $US104.00 per tonne. BHP shaved off 3.7% to $40.9, Rio Tinto fell 2.7% to $129.08, Fortescue dropped 2% to $20.05.
Among gold miners, Northern Star led losses, down 5.6% to $24.88 on dwindling expectations of a US rate cut. Non-yielding gold tends to do well in a low-interest-rate environment.
Investors have pared back bets of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month, despite signs of further weakness in the world’s largest economy. Markets are now pricing in a 40% chance of a move in December, down from more than 60% earlier this month. Traders are awaiting the closely watched September nonfarm payrolls report due on Thursday (Friday AEDT) for clues on the interest rate outlook.
In company news on the ASX, mining company PLS rallied 3.3% to $4.09 after a major Chinese lithium supplier predicted that the price of the battery material could double next year.
James Hardie soared nearly 10% to $27.94 after the construction materials supplier’s first quarter result came in line with expectations.
BlueScope Steel fell 1.7% to $22.10 as the steelmaker expected underlying EBIT for the first half of the financial year to land at the bottom of its $550 million to $620 million guidance range.
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