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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