Europe's major indices fell between 2 and 3%, and the declines in Asia were also sharp, ranging from around 1 to 3%. Meanwhile, the US tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell 2.6% with Facebook and Twitter coming under pressure after company executives fronted a Senate committee. Locally, significant news came through when three of Australia's four major banks announced independent interest rate increases to standard variable mortgage rates of between 14 and 16 basis points.
Over the ensuing three weeks, the S&P/ASX200 saw modest rises of 0.35%, 0.47%, and 0.21%, but the turmoil from the opening week would prove to be much too significant to recover from. To the scorecard and as the chart (ordered in index weighting), below, shows it was a tough month for most sectors (click to expand).
Healthcare fell the most (-8.36%), driven by the Federal government's announcement of a Royal Commission into aged care providers. The Financial sector was weighed by concerns emanating from its own Royal Commission amid a period of slowing credit growth.
It was a better month for resources after declining in August; Energy gained 4.02% and Materials lifted 2.67% supported by stronger commodities prices.
It was a better month for resources after declining in August; Energy gained 4.02% and Materials lifted 2.67% supported by stronger commodities prices.
The news was not all negative for investors in September. While the index saw its first monthly decline since March, this was in part impacted by a swathe of companies paying dividends during the month following the recent reporting season. According to data compiled by CommSec, around $A17.3 billion of dividends was paid to shareholders in September.
On its final trading day of the month, the S&P/ASX200 index closed stronger by 26.34 points (+0.43%) at 6,207.56 — currently around its strongest levels since 2007. For the quarter, the index finished little changed, up by 0.21%, while year to date the gain stands at 2.35%.
