As was expected to happen, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has been hit hard today as fears continue to mount over China's future growth prospects.
The local sharemarket plunged another 1.1% to trade at 5038 points, adding to the pain of yesterday's 2.1% decline, in a broad sell-off led by the country's biggest mining companies.
BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), for instance, fell another 2.2%, while Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) were down 1.6% and 2.7%, respectively.
It was even worse in the energy sector after oil prices crashed nearly 9% overnight with Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) and Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) amongst the hardest hit, down 2.6%, 5% and 6.7% respectively.
Meanwhile, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) was the hardest hit from the Big Four banks with its shares falling 1%. Each of its rivals fell between 0.5% and 0.9%.
I'm sure you've guessed by now that China was once again behind the market's tumble. The Shanghai Composite index fell another 3.1% today on the back of weak manufacturing data, while Australia's own GDP data, which showed growth of just 0.2% during the June quarter, also weighed on the market's sentiment.
Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing how long the share market's volatility will last, nor is it possible to predict the bottom of the crash with any accuracy.
The important thing for long-term investors to do is to ensure they keep their emotions in check and to keep their eye out for quality companies trading at basement prices.
