Today, local shares closed sharply after European shares sunk global markets overnight and commodity prices continued to slide.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 1.5% to 5,151 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 1.4% to 5,201 points
- AUD/USD at US 73.19 cents
- Iron Ore at US$40.75 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,063 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$44.01 a barrel
The ASX fell sharply on the back of a decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to reduce the deposit rate by just 0.1% to -0.3% and refrain from a more aggressive bond-buying program, to stimulate economic growth. Instead, the ECB chose to continue the current program for an additional six months.
A slide towards $US40 per tonne for iron ore saw shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) fall 1.43%, 2.65% and 1.3%, respectively.
Each of the major banks also tumbled down, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) falling 2.52% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) falling 1.85%.
Among the ASX's worst performers were Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) (down 8.9%) and Ardent Leisure Group (ASX: AAD) (down 5.5%).
Some of the best-performing stocks on the ASX were Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) (up 2.4%) and Netcomm Wireless Ltd (ASX: NTC) (up 5%).
Here are Friday's top stories: