Mid-Session 15 August 19: Local shares suffer steep declines in response to concerns around a global recession

The Australian sharemarket has been aggressively sold off in early trade on Thursday, following steep falls overnight for US and European stocks in response to escalating concerns around slowing global growth. The Dow Jones Index was a noteworthy for its 800 point fall, marking the worst fall since October last year. US investors reacted to further declines in long term interest rates, which fell below short term rates, or an inversion of the yield curve – historically an inverse yield curve has signalled the increased likelihood of a recession.

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