Market watch: Biotechs take battering as markets lurch

By Tim Dean
Monday, 08 August, 2011

Sovereign debt concerns have sent markets worldwide into a funk, with Australian biotechs caught in the crossfire.

The All Ordinaries fell sharply in morning trading, following on from a steep drop last Friday. After a minor rally as bargain hunters moved in, the All Ords sits at 4,091.6 as of 2.30pm this afternoon, down 1.87% from its open.

Biotechs have also felt the pinch, chief among them QRxPharma (ASX:QRX), which has continued its week-long slip, dropping to $1.32 today, down 6.8%

Sydney-based Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) also took a hit, dropping to $1.01, down 7c or 6.45%, as well as Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR), which shed 1c to 17.5c.

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB), which has been in the news of late because of its soaring share price over the last six months, dropped by over 5% to $8.02.

Sirtex (ASX:SRX), makers of SIR-Spheres, also shaved 23c off its share price to $5.14, down 4.28%.

Even the Big Three weren’t spared, with CSL (ASX:CSL) losing 78c to $27.61; ResMed (ASX:RMD) dropping 4c to $2.64; and Cochlear down by 84c to $66.02.

Market analysts are conflicted about what the present global situation implies for the Australian economy, which is less affected by sovereign debt woes.