Overnight US stocks slumped more than 5% as investors worried about the global financial crisis and a US recession, wiping out the gains from the Election Day rally as the problems facing US President-elect Barack Obama dimmed optimism on Wall Street.
The market is struggling – down 155 or 3.6% - on the back of heavy falls on Wall Street overnight. The Faith-o-meter has hit rock bottom again. Resources doing most of the damage – BHP down 7% and Rio down 8.3% - they have lost all of yesterday's big gains. ANZ has gone 74c ex dividend.
Further evidence that the global resources boom is well and truly punctured with the world's biggest steel maker announcing further cuts to production and forecasting a sharper than expected slump in fourth quarter earnings.
The federal government slashed its budget surplus forecast for the 2009 financial year and said economic growth will slow and unemployment will rise as the global financial crisis drains tax revenues.
A surprise expansion in the trade surplus for September (the biggest in 11 years), the Aussie dollar was a bit firmer, but the building approvals for September were miserable.
The slump in building approvals for September had an obvious impact on CSR.
The market was cautious about the improvement reported by West Australian Newspapers, the shares edged higher, but finished down 1 cent at $6.69.
