The Aussie share market is diving on Thursday, as Wall Street prepares for a 'very, very painful two weeks'

  • The ASX began falling as the opening bell sounded on Thursday, losing around 3.3% by midday.

  • It follows after Wall Street was smashed by 4.4% overnight, as Trump warned of a "very, very painful two weeks" coming for the United States.

  • Official forecasts point to as many as 240,000 US deaths, while unemployment there continues to deteriorate.

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The latest rally on global sharemarkets may have been little but a dead cat bounce.

The ASX 200 fell immediately at the opening bell, losing around 3.3% by midday, after hitting what was a two-week high amid a coronavirus-fuelled bear market.

It comes as Wall Street was smashed overnight after President Donald Trump warned of a "very, very painful two weeks" coming for the United States, with COVID-19 to produce as many as 240,000 deaths there according to government forecasts. As of 1 April, there were more than 200,000 confirmed cases in the US and 4,000 deaths.

The large spikes forecasted for both figures is a product of concerns regarding inadequate testing and insufficient medical supplies.

The economic outlook meanwhile is only beginning to darken there, as the US recorded its first set of monthly job losses since 2017, with economists expecting between 3 million and 5.5 million jobless claims to have come in in the last week alone, only exacerbating anxieties.

"With a global recession now being the overarching theme for the year, investors are expected to endure a bumpy ride before they can place firm hopes on the eventual recovery," currency firm FXTM analyst Han Tan told Business Insider.

The Dow Jones dropped nearly 1000 points with it, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 all falling 4.44% in unison. The result looks to put an end to a US rally of more than 21% over the last fortnight.

While the ASX had failed to follow Wall Street higher, it now looks sure to accompany it lower.