Australian shares down 4.2 per cent in worst day since 2020

The S&P/ASX 200 -- Australia's benchmark share market index -- closed down 4.2 per cent on Monday to 7,343.3 points in a plunge worth more than 100 billion Australian dollars (60.1 billion US dollars).

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that it was the index's biggest one-day fall since May 2020.

It marks a fall of 14.1 per cent from the market's record-high close of 8,555.8 points on February 14 and the index's lowest close since December 2023.

The benchmark was down more than 6 per cent within minutes of opening on Monday in a wipeout worth about 160 billion Australian dollars but rebounded slightly.

Australia's banking, energy and mining sectors were among the hardest-hit.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia -- the nation's largest bank -- closed down 6.2 per cent and multinational mining giant BHP was down 6.1 per cent.

Responding to the slump on Monday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was concerned about the impact on superannuation funds, Xinhua news agency reported. Superannuation is an Australian system whereby a portion of an employee's wage is placed into an investment fund made available upon retirement.

"We're seeing a considerable impact, negative impact on the stock market that impacts Australians because superannuation funds have their shares there," Albanese told reporters.

"I'm concerned about the impact in Asia. If you look at the impact of some of the tariffs in Asia, some of them were quite high," he said.

Earlier on Monday, the value of the Australian dollar fell below 60 US cents for the first time since 2020.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that the market is expecting multiple interest rate cuts over the course of the year starting when the Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy board next meets in mid-May.