The banks acted as a heavy drag on the ASX today, which ended the session deep in the red.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 1.1% to 5,084 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 1% to 5,153 points
- AUD/USD at US 75.06 cents
- Iron Ore at US$57.87 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,219.18 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$40.55 a barrel
An announcement made by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) this morning regarding a blowout in its bad debt charges set an ugly scene for local shares today.
The bank's shares plunged 5.2%, while those of its rivals Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) all fell between 2.5% and 4.6%.
The miners didn't provide much support either. BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) lost 3.4% while Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shed 3.6% as well.
Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) and Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) managed to buck the trend, rising 4.4% and 2.9%. St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) wasn't so lucky, losing 8.2%.
Here are Thursday's top stories:
- Why the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group share price was hammered today
- ANZ forecasts $100 million blowout in bad debts
- Iron ore could be about to crash
- Why the BHP Billiton share price has fallen 3.8% today
- 5 ASX tech shares that are beating the market in 2016
- Is there more to come for Bellamy's and Blackmores?
