Australian stocks fell 0.8 percent on Thursday, ending off the day's lows as investors played it safe with just hours to go before the result of a German vote on beefing up the eurozone's rescue fund. Traders said some mining positions were being scaled back ahead of Chinese manufacturing data due on Saturday.
Unexpectedly weak PMI data for September would likely deal a further blow to stock markets, adding to fears about another global recession. The outcome of the German parliament vote on eurozone rescue schemes will be known after 0900 GMT. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 31.2 points to 4,008.3, according to the latest data, recovering from an earlier drop below 4,000. It rose 0.9 percent on Wednesday and 3.6 percent on Tuesday.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose just over a point to 3,300.2. Selling abated as commodities and US stock futures recovered on hopes of progress on Europe's debt debacle. Australian resource firms had been rocked by a fall in three-month copper to a 13-month low, losing more than 7 percent at one point.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.