The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has suffered its biggest monthly decline since March 2020 after falling 8.77 per cent in June, data from S&P Dow Jones Indices has revealed.
As fears about aggressive monetary policy tightening and the risk of a recession gripped the market, the index also recorded a quarterly drop of 11.90 per cent, the largest since Q1 2020.
Materials was the worst performing sector during the month with a 12.40 per cent fall, closely followed by a decline of 11.87 per cent for the financials sector.
“The S&P/ASX 200 consumer staples sector was the sole Australian segment to finish the month higher, rising just 0.21 per cent,” said S&P Dow Jones Indices global head of index investment strategy, Tim Edwards.
“In Q2 energy and utilities managed to finish in the black, rising 2 per cent a piece and are the sole sectors up so far this year. Information technology extended its dismal record, and with June’s 11 per cent decline, it is down 27 per cent in Q2 and 37 per cent so far in 2022.”
The next worst performing sectors in June were real estate (-10.52 per cent), consumer discretionary (-7.32 per cent), utilities (-6.79 per cent), industrials (-4.26 per cent), communication services (-3.59 per cent), health care (-3.09 per cent) and energy (-0.27 per cent).
On a quarterly basis, real estate suffered a drop of 17.76 per cent, with double-digit declines also seen for materials (-16.07 per cent), consumer discretionary (-14.92 per cent), financials (-13.74 per cent) and communication services (-10.12 per cent).
Looking at the major indices, the S&P/ASX 20 (-8.12 per cent) and the S&P/ASX 50 (-8.15 per cent) both managed to slightly outperform the S&P/ASX 200 last month. The S&P/ASX 100 also posted a loss of 8.45 per cent and the S&P/ASX 300 moved 8.97 per cent lower.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies index dropped by 18.58 per cent, the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries index lost 13.09 per cent and S&P/ASX MidCap 50 declined by 10.34 per cent.
Mr Edwards also drew attention to falls seen in many of the fixed income indices tracked by S&P Dow Jones Indices across both Australia and New Zealand in June.
“Our regional fixed income indices generally finished the month and quarter lower than they started, with cash-like Bank Bills providing a rare exception in both Australia and New Zealand,” he noted.
“Inflation-linked bonds suffered most in both countries, as recessionary fears reduced demand for inflation protection.”
