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Australian shares retreat, following US market pull back

23rd Jun 2009, 8:42 am Australian shares retreat, following US market pull back

The Australian market cracked today under strain from the US market.  The culprit?

The World Bank forecast global gross domestic product would contract by 2.9 per cent this year, more than the 2.4 per cent it had predicted previously.

Why this so shocked US investors is not abundantly clear, when 2009 had been essentially written-off as bearing the full brunt of the global economic downturn. 

Australia did follow the US stockmarket down today, perhaps after the recent run of strong gains it was a knee jerk reaction - however, given the Australian economy has registered economic growth unlike Western economies - the extent of falls was perplexing.

Registering the biggest fall in six weeks, all sector were hit, with materials down 4% and financials down 3.5%.  The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 3.1 per cent, or 121.3 points, at 3796.9.

BHP Billiton fell $1.42, or 4 per cent, to $33.83 while Rio Tinto was down $2.03, or 4.1 per cent, at $47.97. Fortescue Metals Group lost 27 cents, or 6.6 per cent, to $3.80.

ANZ lost 51 cents, or 3.1 per cent, to $16.07, Commonwealth Bank was down $1.03, or 2.7 per cent, at $37.67, NAB was down 56 cents, or 2.5 per cent, at $21.93 and Westpac lost 73 cents, or 3.6 per cent, to $19.40.  Investment bank Macquarie Group was down $1.53, or 4 per cent, at $36.29.

Lihir Gold was down 11 cents, or 3.7 per cent, at $2.82 and Newmont lost 19 cents, or 3.6 per cent,  to $5.05.

Santos lost 62 cents, or 4.2 per cent, to $14.08 and Woodside Petroleum was down $1.00, or 2.4 per cent, at $40.30.

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