Australia stocks nosedive on Fed rate hike fears

The Australian share market ended steeply lower on Monday, 09 March 2015, following a weak trend in global markets as strong US jobs data rekindled expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than previously thought. Meanwhile, selloff pressure intensified after official data showing German exports fell more than expected in January, while data from China indicated a slide in imports. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index both stumbled by 1.3% to 5821.30 and 5793, respectively. Market turnover was relatively healthy, with 1.78 billion shares changing hands worth of A$4.4 billion. Rising stocks underperformed by declining ones, with total of 435 stocks up, while remaining 924 down.

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