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The local share market has made a dismal start to the new year, sinking to a fresh eight-week low amid broad-based selling.
At noon AEDT on Tuesday, the S&P/ASX200 index was down 105.5 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 6933.2, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 106.7 points, or 1.48 per cent, to 7114.
The ASX200 rose as many as 33 points, or 0.4 per cent, in the first 10 minutes of trading but sank steadily after that.
Absent a stunning afternoon turnaround, the index appeared set to close below 7000 for the first time since November 10.
Mark Gardner, head of trading at Maqro Capital, said sentiment had seemingly turned negative over the holidays.
"From what I've read over the Christmas break there's been a lot of alarmist stuff about the property market, about the impending recession in the press," he told Ausbiz TV.
Contributing to the dour mood, the Judo Bank Australia Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index released on Tuesday morning showed that Australia's manufacturing sector expansion slowed in December, with output and new orders falling.
Also, quarterly economic data out of China compiled by a private firm showed the economy of Australia's biggest trading partner declined significantly in the fourth quarter.
"With the ongoing COVID tidal wave, investment sliding to a 10-quarter low, and new orders continuing to get battered, a meaningful first-quarter recovery is increasingly unrealistic," China Beige Book International said.
Every sector was lower at midday, and every sector except consumer discretionary and property trusts was down at least 1.4 per cent.
Tech was the biggest loser, down 2.3 per cent as Wisetech Global fell 3.4 per cent and Computershare dropped three per cent.
The heavyweight financial sector was down 2.1 per cent, with the big retail banks hitting their lowest levels in three months.
ANZ, NAB and Westpac were all down around 2.5 per cent, while CBA had dropped 1.8 per cent to $100.78. Investment bank Macquarie was down 2.1 per cent.
The mining sector was down 1.4 per cent, with BHP down 1.1 per cent to $45.12, Fortescue falling 2.0 per cent to $20.105 and Rio Tinto down 1.8 per cent to $114.27.
Goldminers were up however, with Northern Star adding 0.8 per cent and Evolution growing 0.7 per cent.
Tabcorp was up 1.6 per cent to
