Australia Market tumbles 3%

The Australian share market finished session steep lower on Thursday, 24 February 2022, as investors sought shelter in safe-haven assets after Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in what could be the start of war in Europe over Russia's demands for an end to NATO's eastward expansion. Meanwhile, fears about possible aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation also dented investors' appetite for riskier assets. All ASX sectors declined, with shares in banks, miners and technology sectors leading losses.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 stumbled 215.06 points, or 2.98%, to 6,990.63. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped by 220.74 points, or 2.95%, to 7,253.12.

The top performing stocks in this index were CIMIC Group and PERSEUS MINING, up 33.4% and 12.26% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in this index were LIFE360 INC. and APPEN, down 28.77% and 28.7% respectively.

US President Joe Biden released a statement shortly after saying Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering, adding that the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. Biden will meet with his G-7 counterparts overnight and promised further consequences adding the world will hold Russia accountable.

The Tech sector was the hardest hit, plunging 6.4%, while the Materials sector dropped 4.3%. BHP (BHP) was a major weight on the market today, dropping 6.9% as the miner traded ex-dividend. While Woodside Petroleum (WPL) which also traded ex-div declined by 2.7%.

CIMIC Group (CIM) was by far the best performer on the ASX 200 index, surging 33.4% to $22.00 after the engineering group's majority shareholder outlined plans to take full ownership. Hochtief AG said it would make an unconditional off-market cash offer of $22.00 per share for the 21.42% of CIMIC's ASX-listed securities it doesn't already own. It said the offer was final. CIM says it's considering the proposed offer and will update shareholders in due course.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.522, up from 96.190. The Australian dollar was at $0.7177 after falling from $0.7233.

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