ASX dives 2.4% to five-week low on US tech sell-off\, vaccine setback

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ASX dives 2.4% to five-week low on US tech sell-off, vaccine setback

Summary

  • The ASX 200 fell by as much as 2.4% to a five-week low at Wednesday's open 
  • Wall Street's mega-cap tech sell-off gathered pace overnight. Amazon gave up 4.4%, Facebook shed 4.1% and Google parent Alphabet fell 3.6%
  • The NASDAQ entered correction territory, with the index dropping 4.1%. The Dow Jones fell 2.3% and the S&P 500 lost 2.8%
  • AstraZeneca has put a hold on the late-stage trial of its highly-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine candidate after a suspected serious adverse reaction in a study participant

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Boards run red as ASX 200 plunges to five-week low

By Alex Druce

Wall Street's tech sell-off and an AstraZeneca vaccine setback hinted at an Australian sharemarket plunge, and the local bourse has duly delivered.

The benchmark ASX 200 fell by as much as 2.4 per cent to a five-week intraday low of 5866.1 at Wednesday's open. All sectors were bright red as $40 billion was wiped from the boards, easily erasing two sessions of gains.

Just nine of the top 200 stocks were ahead after 20 minutes.

The financials were battered, losing a collective 2.9 per cent. Materials dropped 1.6 per cent and health care stocks fell 2.2 per cent.

The tech sector - the focal point of the overnight US decline - was 3.7 per cent lower.

Energy stocks dropped 3.4 per cent, after oil prices took a beating overnight.

The ASX 200 has lost a collective 3.1 per cent over six trading days in September.

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