Worst week in two years for ASX as volatility explodes

The Australian sharemarket had its worst week since January 2016 as the global equities rout resumed on Friday in the aftermath of a correction on Wall Street and amid savage selling in Asian stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 52 points or 0.9 per cent to finish the session at 5838 points. Over the past five days, the losses added up to 4.6 per cent. It is the weakest weekly performance since fears of China's economic stability overtook markets almost exactly two years ago.