So much for Wednesday’s enthusiasm on the ASX – it’s turned out to be a one day bounce as Wall Street slid, taking the ASX 200 futures market with it.
Gold, silver, iron ore all fell as did the Aussie dollar. But oil edged higher, then dipped in after-hours trading.
Adding to the pressures for the ASX today was another near 3% slump in iron ore prices on Wednesday.
That takes the fall since prices peaked at $US130.17 a tonne on September 2 to more than 12.5%.
The Dow was off 527 points, or 1.92%, at 26,763, around its low for the day, while the S&P 500 index slid 2.37% to 3,237, threatening to push the index closer to correction at 3,222.76 for the first time since March.
The Nasdaq Composite Index fell more than 3% to reach 10,633, deepening its slide in correction territory (a drop of at least 10% from the most recent peak).
Wall Street sold off on fears about the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases as the northern winter approaches, attempts by the Trump administration to punish tech companies, surveys showing weakening service sector activity in the US (and weak reports from elsewhere).
The Dow Jones is fell 1.7%, the S&P 500 shed 2% and the Nasdaq has dropped 2.7%.
ASX 200 futures were pointing to a drop of more than 50 points, or 0.8% at the opening this morning.
That will be very different to yesterday which saw one of the best days for months for the ASX.
The Australian share market was up 2.4% or 140 points, lifting from three-month lows the day before thanks to a strong Wall Street lead.
The ASX 200 ended at 5,923.9 in a gain that added $40 billion to market values.
The flight to quality that merged this week saw the Aussie dollar fall close to 70 US cents as the greenback strengthened.
The Aussie was trading around 70.72, its low for the session, just before 6 am and has fallen from 73.35 on Tuesday morning.
But US bond yields were relatively steady at just over 0.67% for the 10-year security, about where they were on Monday.
Gold plunged, slumping well under $US1,900 an ounce for the first time in two months.
Comex December gold fell $US39.20, or nearly 2.1%, to settle at $US1,868.40, heading back to its late-July lows after posting losses in the previous two sessions.
That was the lowest finish for a most-active contract since July 22, according to FactSet data.
Comex December silver tumbled $US1.42, or 5.8%, to end at $US23.105 an ounce, which was also the lowest settlement since late July.
Comex December copper fell 2.2% to $US2.993 a pound.
Oil also eased in after-hours trading after rising in the regular session.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 13 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $US39.93 a barrel in New York after a session high of $US40.75. Front-month prices settled below the $40 mark for a third consecutive session.
In Europe, November Brent crude climbed 5 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $US41.77 a barrel. Both contracts were just in the red (down around 3 US cents) around 6 am).
The price of 62% Fe iron ore fines shipped to northern China fell $3.49 to $US113.81 on Wednesday. That fall helped send the Aussie dollar lower.
