Easy come, easy go, or so the saying goes.
The Australian sharemarket experienced a strong six-day rally leading into Tuesday over which time the bourse piled on roughly 4.3% in a charge led by the big four banks. Since then however, it has been stuck in a downwards spiral and is on track to record its third consecutive day in the red with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.4% around lunchtime. It's down 2.4% since Tuesday's closing price.
Today's losses can be attributed to a number of factors, including weak Chinese manufacturing data which saw the Australian dollar fall to a fresh six-year low, as well as crumbling commodity prices. Indeed, the gold price has hit a new five-year low with the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold (Index: ^AXGD) (ASX: XGD) down a whopping 5.7% today (and 15% for the week), while iron ore is also trading below US$52 a tonne.
As a result, it is the resources sector acting as the heaviest weight on the broader market with BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) leading the downward charge, falling 1.1% and 0.8% respectively.
Although surprising given the market's general weakness, the Big Four banks are mostly up today with the exception being National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), which is down just 0.1%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) are up between 0.2% and 0.5%.
Unfortunately however, there are few other shining lights amongst the market's top corporations with Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) all falling heavily. The trio are down 1.2%, 5.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
With the market's confidence once again taking a hit, investors who are committed to patience and holding onto their shares for the long term are being presented with an excellent opportunity to buy high-quality companies trading at excellent prices. Although conditions could remain volatile in the near-term, the greatest time to buy your shares is when the rest of the market is nervous and uncertain.
