By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks suffered a broad sell-off in early Wednesday trading, reacting to overnight Wall Street losses and concerns about global economic health. On the last trading day of the Australian financial year, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 2% at 4,260.0. Despite reports of a possible deal on a controversial mining profits tax, resource shares pushed lower, with Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO 66.66, -1.76, -2.57%) (RTP 45.42, -2.98, -6.16%) losing 3.1% of its value, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG 4.12, -0.19, -4.41%) (FSUMF 3.81, -0.03, -0.78%) falling 4.4%. Industrial shares also dropped, as BlueScope Steel Ltd. (AU:BSL 2.10, -0.06, -2.78%) (BLSFF 2.10, +0.42, +25.00%) fell 4.2%, and Incitec Pivot Ltd. (AU:IPL 2.73, -0.12, -4.21%) lost 4.6% |
