Coronavirus: Aussie share market suffers seventh straight loss as investors sweat on rate cut
The Australian share market has recovered slightly from early falls but finished the day down 49.9 points or 0.77 per cent and extending the local exchanges' losses to a seventh day.
The moderate falls come after a horror week, where the ASX 200 lost more than $200 billion in the second worst trading week in local history.
Local investors are awaiting news from the Reserve Bank, who are due to meet for a highly-watched interest rate meeting at 2.30pm tomorrow.
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The market boards at the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Friday, February 28, 2020. The ASX tanked about 10 per cent, wiping off more than $240 billion in value, since the market hit a record high on February 20. AAP
Economists are split as to whether Australia's central bank will drop rates again, from the historic low of 0.75 per cent.
IG market analyst Kyle Rodda said the global spread of coronavirus would hurt Australian markets further.
"Italy, Iran and South Korea reported another spike in coronavirus cases, with several countries announcing an expanding travel blacklist," he said.
"The first death from the disease was reported in the Unites States, and in Australia
"And in what's probably the most impactful news from a markets perspective, China released its latest PMI surveys, with the data showing business activity in the Chinese economy fell to an all-time low last month."
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A pedestrian is stopped by plummeting numbers on the ASX. AAP
No sectors were spared in the local sell-off today, as the market waits for any news from an emergency meeting of Australia's financial regulators to discuss impact of the outbreak on the economy.
The materials index was down 3.6 per cent as mining heavyweights fell.
BHP was down $1.28, or 3.81 per cent, at $32.32 while Rio lost $2.64, or 3.03 per cent, to $84.63.
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Goldminers also fell as the precious metal lost value in the coronavirus fallout.
Newcrest lost 57 cents, or 2.17 per cent, to $25.76 while Northern Star dived 78 cents, or 5.79 per cent, to $12.68.
Takeover target Caltex lost 95 cents, or 2.91 per cent, to $31.75 after telling Britain's EG Group it has not offered it enough money but wants to continue talks about a sale.
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