ENM: Australian shares fall 1.6 pc; banks, BHP lower
MELBOURNE: Australian stocks fell 1.6 percent on Friday, with financial stocks dented after the head of US bank JPMorgan Chase said its trading in
the last two months had been "terrible."
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 58.9 points to 3,539.1 by 2310 GMT, after Thursday's 1.2 percent fall. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.9 percent to 2,703.6. Heavyweight miners slipped on concerns over the health of the global economy, with BHP Billiton Ltd down 2.3 percent to A$29.51 in opening trades. Gold miners benefited from a rise in the gold price, with Lihir Gold up 2.6 percent to A$2.41.
