Bloodbath on the Australian stock exchange as sharemarket suffers the worst one-day plunge since the start of the year as Russia invades Ukraine
- The Australian Securities Exchange has suffered biggest fall since early 2022
- Benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 3 per cent at during Thursday afternoon
- This occurred as explosions were heard in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol
Australia’s share market has suffered the biggest one-day fall since start of 2022 as Russia declares war on Ukraine.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was more than 3 per cent weaker at one point of Thursday trade, marking the sharpest drop since early January.
By 2.20pm Sydney time, the Australian Securities Exchange had plunged below the key 7,000-point market for the first time in more than three weeks.
Reports of explosions heard in Kyiv, the nation’s capital, and the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, led the ASX to shed 30 points in three minutes.
Australia’s share market has suffered the biggest one-day fall since start of 2022 as explosions rock Ukraine (pictured at a livestream from Mariupol)
Residents in the city, which is located in south eastern Ukraine, have been woken up at 3.30am by blasts 50km from the Russian border.
Video footage appeared to show clouds of smoke rising up into the night sky near Mariupol, but it was unconfirmed whether it was as a result of shelling.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week said he wanted to take the major Azov Sea Port of Mariupol, which handles 50 per cent Ukraine’s steel and mineral exports.
Diversified mining giant BHP did particularly badly, with its share price down 6.1 per cent to $45.18.
Rio Tinto fell 3.2 per cent to $116.
Global turmoil is particularly bad for the resources sector with its fortunes tied to worldwide economic growth.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week said he wanted to take the major Azov Sea Port of Mariupol, which handles 50 per cent Ukraine’s steel and mineral exports
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