ASX 200 tanks 2.1pc; sell off in BHP, Fortescue, Rio, South32 amid Beijing lockdown fears

Investors wipe $50bn off ASX amid broad sell off. Big losers include BHP, Fortescue Metals, Rio Tinto, South32 and Woodside Petroleum with falls of 4.3-7.9 per cent. EML tanks on profit warning.

All eyes are on China as the country prepares for a hard lockdown in Beijing to contain an outbreak of Covid-19. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Tuesday, April 26. ASX dropped 2.1 per cent after crude oil and iron ore tumbled as China’s capital Beijing prepares for a hard lockdown to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. BHP led a rout in commodity stocks.

S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.1 per cent to a new 20-day low of 7,318.0, erasing some $50bn in market value.

The top five drags on the market included BHP, Fortescue Metals, Rio Tinto, South32 and Woodside Petroleum with falls of 4.3-7.9 per cent.

The market rout continued across Europe and Asia overnight as Covid-19 hit Chinese supply chains and closed factories threatening stability in the world’s second-largest economy. 

Among commodities, iron ore futures retreated 2.3 per cent to $US149.73 a tonne while US Nymex crude oil dropped 3 per cent to fall below $US100 a barrel. Base metal prices fell in London with Zinc down more than 6 per cent.

In the US, stocks closed higher as Twitter agreed to Elon Musk’s $US44bn takeover deal to take the social-media company private.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.3 per cent.