The Australian sharemarket closed sharply in the red yesterday after disappointing United States jobs data cast a shadow over the US recovery story.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished 123.5 points, or 2.78 per cent, weaker at 4325.9 points and the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 121.7 points, or 2.72 per cent, to 4350.7 points, its lowest in over one month.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was 136 points, or 3.04 per cent, lower at 4331 points, with 44,651 contracts traded.
Weaker commodity prices and fears over global growth recovery prompted the sell-off, with the Australian market opening 100 points lower after declines of over 3 per cent on Wall St on Friday evening (US time). The US economy added just 41,000 workers in May, down dramatically from the 218,000 added in April, and the result was worse than expected by economists who had hoped for a pick-up in private sector hiring.
Patersons Securities associate director John Curtin said the market was looking for a good US jobs number and the May figure spooked the market. "It's put back in focus the recovery in the US," he said.
"There's more fear on the eurozone, sovereign issues, that have flowed on to our market.
"We are reacting to the Northern Hemisphere and there was nothing specific in our market that pushed our stocks down."
- AAP
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