ASX 200's worst week since March 2020; Forrest bumps up AACo stake; GUD worst performer; Humm down on Latitude deal fail

The ASX 200 index closes down 6.6 per cent for the week amid recession fears. Andrew Forrest's Tattarang Group shells out $122m to raise AACo stake to 17.4pc. GUD dives 20 per cent. 

Markets are poised to open sharply lower after stocks sank on Wall Street. Picture: Jeremy Piper / NCA NewsWire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, June 17. The ASX 200 index closes down 6.6 per cent for the week amid recession fears. Andrew Forrest's Tattarang Group shells out $122m to raise AACo stake to 17.4pc. GUD dives 20 per cent. 

While bouncing alongside US futures, the S&P/ASX 200 ended down 1.9 per cent at a 19-month low of 6474.8.

It was the worst week for local stocks since March 2020 - and the lowest close since November 2020.

Asian stocks extended a global sell-off as the Bank of Japan left its interest rates unchanged. That's after the Bank of England raised its rates another 25 basis points and Switzerland's surprise move with an unexpected 50 basis point rate increase overnight.

On Wall Street, skittish investor sentiment sent stocks plunging deeper into bear market territory overnight. Just one day earlier, markets had rallied amid optimism that the US economy can withstand higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones dropped 2.4 per cent, the S&P 500 index lost 3.3 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 4.1 per cent.

European markets were also sharply lower, with major benchmarks off more than 2 per cent.

Among commodities, Nymex crude oil climbed 2 per cent to $US117.58 a barrel while iron ore was little changed at $US135.04 a tonne overnight.

The Australian dollar was trading around US70.45c.