AU Evening Wrap: ASX Plummets 2.1% Amid Growth Fears; Uranium Stocks Hit Hard

• Top losers: $Boss Energy Ltd (BOE.AU)$ $Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN.AU)$ $Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (DMP.AU)$

Australia's $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ dropped 2.1% to close at 7,943.2, marking its largest one-day loss since March 2023, driven by a global equities selloff following weak U.S. economic data.

The benchmark index opened sharply lower and failed to recover, with all 11 sectors ending in the red. Real estate, tech, and financial stocks were the hardest hit, particularly banks $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AU)$, $Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AU)$, $CommBank (CBA.AU)$, and $National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AU)$, which collectively represent about 20% of the ASX 200 by market capitalization and fell between 1.8% and 4.1%. Uranium miners $Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN.AU)$, $Boss Energy Ltd (BOE.AU)$, and $Deep Yellow Ltd (DYL.AU)$ also suffered substantial losses, dropping between 11% and 19% after Kazatomprom increased its production forecast. Despite this, the ASX 200 managed to gain 0.3% for the week, supported by optimism that Australia's central bank might cut interest rates by year-end.