The Australian share market dived to a two-month low today, mirroring declines in offshore markets after disappointing private-sector jobs data cast doubt on expectations of moderate growth in US non-farm payrolls data due tomorrow.
Stronger-than-expected domestic February retail sales sparked a brief intraday recovery in the local bourse, but analysts were increasingly bearish after a strong advance this year.
At today's close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 44.2 points, or 0.89 per cent, down at 4913.5.
This compared to a four-and-a-half year intraday high of 5163.5 struck on March 12. "There's no hurry to buy," said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy. "If we hold above 4928, there would be some reason for expecting a bit of a bounce, but a close below that level could trigger a slide to 4700 in the short term."
RBS Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton said the local market had followed US markets down after weak US economic data prompted investors to head for the door.
