ASX 200 weekly wrap: AMP, CSL, CBA & more make losses

BHP Billiton, CSL and the major banks were among the heavyweight companies caught up in a widespread sell-off on the local share market last week amid global investor concerns linked to US-China trade tensions, Brexit and rising US interest rates.

While Australian shares managed to rebound on Friday, it was not enough to offset losses the local market endured earlier in the week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 4.61% to 5,665 points and the broader All Ordinaries index fell 5.12% to 5,733 points over the course of last week.

The energy, consumer discretionary, information technology and health care sectors absorbed some of the biggest losses.

Canstar General Manager of Wealth Josh Callaghan said the local market was reacting to heavy global market falls.

He said the escalation of US-China trade wars, increased uncertainty about London and Brussels’ ability to strike a Brexit deal and an unexpected rise in the 10-year US Treasury price during October drove the local share market lower.

“These three factors have led to investors being highly sensitive to new information,” Mr Callaghan said.

“As a result, we’re seeing some of the growth sectors having corrections as investors tentatively wait to see what happens.”

He said one such growth stock hit hard by investors’ uncertainty in recent months was biotechnology giant CSL, which closed last week at $176.90 a share when in September it was trading above $200 a share.

[VIDEO] Market Close: A late rebound in the financial and materials sectors helped the ASX 200 finish the session up 1 point to 5,665. Over the week though, the index tumbled 4.6% amid ongoing concerns about global growth https://t.co/iwrb9Zujks #ausbiz

— CommSec (@CommSec) October 26, 2018

Mr Callaghan said wealth management company AMP’s shares have halved in value so far this year to $2.38 – a price last seen in 2003.

“In its quarterly market update AMP revealed it had experienced net outflows of $1.5 billion, quantifying the extent to which the royal commission had affected customer sentiment towards the wealth manager,” he said.

AMP also announced details of the sale of its life insurance arm to Resolution Life and plans to list its New Zealand wealth management business on the Kiwi stock exchange.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac each had more than $3 billion wiped off their market values.

Private healthcare group Healthscope posted the biggest gains in share price and market value last week on the back of a $4.1 billion takeover bid by BGH Capital and backed by Australian Super.

Shares in Healthscope were up 17.5% over the week and closed at $2.12.