Bond loss shocks Aust

Press, 23 October 1989, Page 12

Bond loss shocks Aust

NZPA-AAP Sydney After a week of violent gyrations inspired by nervousness on Wall Street, the Australian sharemarket ended last week in a state of shock after the news of Bond Corporation Holdings’ sAustBl4.o7 million ($NZ1,068.19M) net loss. Bond’s result, the largest company loss in Australian history, came after the close of trade in Sydney and did not affect its shares which closed two cents firmer at 29 cents. Earlier in the week the

market plummeted 141 points in response to Wall Street’s big slide last Friday, October 13.

The shake-out on Monday sent shock-waves around world bourses and sent many investors scurrying to the sidelines as memories came flooding back of the crash two years ago.

After a slight recovery on Tuesday the Australian market was again rocked on Wednesday by the San Francisco earthquake and an expected poor reaction from Wall Street.

However, Wall Street remained solid and the Australian market ended the week on a firm note with the allordinaries index finishing 17.9 points up at 1673.8, barely off its high for the day at 1674.1. It lost 68.1 points from its close the previous Friday at 1741.9, with most of the damage done on Monday. “You cannot write off Friday, October 13, as a one-day wonder ... the market is still digesting that,” a dealer said.

Another broker said: “These fluctuations are put-

ting people off ... they would rather stay out of the market.”