The Australian share market should bring some relief to superannuation funds today as it is expected to open higher this morning, taking a lead from the stronger close on the New York stock exchange on Tuesday.
Overnight, the US Dow Jones index recovered the previous 24 hours’ losses amounting to tens of billions of dollars.
Around the world this week, stock markets have experienced levels of volatility not seen in the past six years.
On the US exchange, a massive sell-off began late last week sparked by a sharp rise in bond yields that led to concerns the Federal Reserve Bank was about to jack up interest rates.
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) saw $60 billion wiped off the value of shares yesterday, giving rise to fears that superannuation funds would slide in value.
But with the partial Wall St recovery overnight, pundits are hoping that the total decline may have been averted.
The ABC reported that in a continuation of losses earlier this week, “the Dow Jones (on Tuesday) suffered its biggest points drop in a single day (1175 points)” and the benchmark ASX 200 index dropped 3.2 per cent to end on 5833 points. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped by 3.2 per cent to 5930.
Carnage was felt across all major Asian exchanges.
This morning, the benchmark ASX futures strengthened by 1.7 per cent, foreshadowing a higher opening point for today’s trading.
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