There goes most of the tentative gains in the back half of 2019 as the ASX 200 on Wednesday fell to a level under what it was on June 28, the last trading day of the first half of this year.
The ASX 200 lost 1.6%, or 105.8 points, to finish at 6,606.5, on Wednesday, on top of the 2.2% slump on Tuesday.
That 3.8% fall not only wipes out the 2.65% gain across all of November but also the gains since July 1.
The ASX’s close of 6,606.5 is actually lower than the 6,619.8 on June 28 (the last trading day in June).
The fall so far has clipped the gains for the year to date to just over 17% from around 21.2% at the end of November.
It hit all-time highs last week (and in late July) but all those gains have gone.
For this, we can blame US President Donald Trump who says he is in no rush to conclude a trade deal with China.
“I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal. But they want to make a deal now and we’ll see whether not the deal is going to be right. It’s got to be right,” Trump said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in London. “If it’s not going to be a good deal, I’m not signing a deal.”
Ahead of another round of US tariff increases on Chinese imports scheduled to begin on Sunday, December 15, his comments once again underline the point that he can’t be trusted when it comes to being the centre of attention.
All bar one of Australia’s 20 largest stocks by market value finished in the red, led by BHP Group which slid 2.5% while its rival Rio Tinto saw its shares off more than 2% as well.
ANZ shares fell by more than 2%, CBA shares were down 1.9%, Westpac shares lost more ground, off 1% while NAB shares shed more than 2%. Telstra shares lost more than 2% as well. Treasury Wines slid 3.1%, Woolworths fell 1.85% and Wesfarmers lost 2.1%.
Shares in gold miner, Newcrest rose 1% as world gold prices rose on the President’s remarks.
Across the wider index, shares in shipbuilder Perth based Austal and global plumbing equipment supplier Reliance Worldwide Corporation were the largest fallers, losing 5.1% each.
Ahead of its half-year profit result today, retailer Metcash slumped 4.8% to $2.77. That was on top of a 1.3% drop on Tuesday when the company revealed more than $300 million of asset write-downs and a lower profit because of the loss of a supply contract for 7-Eleven from August next year.
Shares in Adairs and oOh!media both soared more than 20% though after the former announced a big buy in New Zealand the latter upgraded its 2019 earnings outlook.
