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Australia shares tumble 2.3 pct on growth jitters
Monday November 2, 01:02 PM
(Adds fund manager comment, stocks on the move)
MELBOURNE, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Australian stocks dropped 2.3 percent on Monday, with banks and miners sharply lower on fresh worries over the strength of a global economic recovery.
Stock prices in major markets have risen in recent weeks on hopes of a strong global recovery, but news that U.S. consumer spending fell 0.5 percent in September raised concerns that growth was due more to government stimulus than private demand.
"We've had this coming. The economy needs to grow without the government," said Cannae Capital Partners managing director Hugh Giddy.
"Our market is priced for the world to be a better place. It's priced on China growing and China can't grow on its own, it needs the world to be recovering," he said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was down 107.6 points at 4,535.6 at 2341 GMT, after gaining 1.5 percent on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 1.4 percent to 3,170.0.
The materials sector .AXMJ was 2.8 percent weaker as concerns hit metals and oil prices, with top miners BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP.ax) down 2.5 percent and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO.ax) down 3.3 percent.
Financial stocks followed their U.S. counterparts lower, with the major banks all down between 2.4 percent and 3.0 percent.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Upmarket department store David Jones Ltd (ASX: DJS.ax) slid 2.6 percent ahead of the debut listing of its chief rival, Myer Holdings Ltd MYR.AX, which is due to start trading at 0100 GMT.
2339 GMT
* Discretionary retail stocks were particularly hard hit ahead of an expected central bank interest rate hike on Tuesday. Furniture and electronics retailer Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX: HVN.ax) was down 3.8 percent at A$3.84 and home electronics chain JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH.ax) down 3.4 percent at A$20.10.
2338 GMT
* Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL.ax) , Australia's No. 2 oil and gas producer, fell 1.8 percent. It said it would sell its 51.55 percent stake in Australia's Otway gas project to venture partner Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG.ax) for A$712.5 million. [ID:nSYD479381]
2336 GMT (Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; editing by Jonathan Standing)
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