End of Day Report – Thursday 19 March: ASX 200 drops 1.7% to lowest level in four months | Resources crushed

The ASX 200 fell 143 points to 8498 (1.7%), its lowest level in four months. $265bn has now been wiped off the index since the halcyon days of February. It is all about the oil price and the realisation that this war could really drag on longer, and Trump seems to have lost control of the narrative, even to the point of distancing himself from Israeli actions. Oil heads high, equities head lower. Resources bore the brunt of the selling as gold miners were thrown out with the bathwater, NST fell 9.5% and NEM off 5.8%. All sectors in metals under pressure. The big three iron ore stocks fell hard, with BHP down 3.5% and FMG falling 3.4%. Lithium stocks and rare earths also collapsed with only oil and gas doing ok. WDS up 7.2% and STO rising 3.4%. Even BPT was better. Uranium stocks slid, coal stocks better, NHC up 5.3% and WHC up 2.3%.

Banks held the line, the Big Bank Basket down to $302.13 (-0.2%). Supermarkets too showed their defensive qualities, though retail fell hard. JBH down 2.4% and WES falling another 2.1%. Healthcare also sold off, CSL down again and RMD fell 1.8%. Tech crumbled again, WTC off 7.0% and the All-Tech Index down 2.6%.

In corporate news, LYC lost 2.1% despite reporting the first production of samarium oxide at its Malaysian processing facility. BOE dropped 6.8% even as it increased the uranium resource at its Gould’s Dam and Jason’s satellite deposits in South Australia.

And ORA dropped 2.5% as it appointed Paul Victor as CFO.

In economic news, jobs data showed a solid 48,000 gain in employment, but the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%. The gain in employment during the month was part-time, which rose by 79,000 jobs, while full-time employment fell by 30,000.

10-year yields higher at 4.97%.

Asian markets fell on higher oil prices, Japan off 3.2%, HK down 1.7% and China down 1.0%.

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