A US market bloodbath spilled into local trade on Friday as the Australian sharemarket suffered its sharpest one-day loss in four months, shedding $56 billion in a 3.1 per cent dive.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished 187.1 points lower at 5925.5 on Friday, eroding two buoyant days with its worst performance since May 1.Just six companies on the index added to their tally on Friday, and all sectors ended the session deep in the red.
"There are a lot of risks in the world right now. I think a lot of people have been looking at the US for some time and see that it has been quite unbelievable the run they’ve had," he said.JP Morgan Asset Management global market strategist Kerry Craig said there was no single factor that sparked the sell-off, and cautioned against reading too much into near-term tremors.
The ASX 200 started the day narrowly ahead in an erratic post-earnings season week but ended 2.4 per cent lower over the five sessions.Biotech CSL dropped 4.1 per cent and miners BHP and Rio Tinto fell 3.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively.
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