The Australian sharemarket closed deeply in the red, having taken its lead from weaker offshore bourses and the expectation of more negative US housing figures overnight.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 72.2 points, or 1.58 per cent, at 4486.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 71.9 points, or 1.57 per cent, at 4509.4.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September futures contract was 77 points lower at 4475 points, on volume of 21,244 contracts.
MS Global head of equity sales Nick Burmester said the market was braced for more negative news from the US where new home sales figures were to be released.
"People were disappointed on the housing data last night," he said. "But lumber futures have really crashed over the last few weeks and we are expecting ongoing bad news in that space."
Among the big miners, Rio Tinto fell A$1.57, or 2.18 per cent, to A$70.54 and BHP Billiton lost 52c, or 1.31 per cent, to A$39.14.
The big four banks closed lower, with Westpac suffering the biggest percentage loss, down 3.26 per cent or 76c, to A$22.56, Commonwealth down A$1.33 to A$51.21, National Australia Bank 41c lower at A$24.67 and ANZ down 34c at A$22.88.
Telstra was the most heavily traded stock by volume, with 93.9 million shares changing hands for A$308.4 million, following its in-principle deal with the Federal Government on the national broadband network announced at the weekend.
Telstra shares closed 3c higher at A$3.29.
The second most traded share by volume was rural services provider Elders, which slid to fresh lows. It closed 6.5c, or 14.77 per cent lower at 37.5c after downgrading its earnings guidance on Tuesday.
Shares in DMC Mining were steady at 52c after the company said it was considering legal action after a Chinese energy group abandoned its takeover offer, leaving Australian company Cape Lambert Resources as the sole bidder.
- AAP
US data fears dent ASX200
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