AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Slip 0.3% as Commodity Stocks Fall
Market Performance
Australia's $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU$ closed 0.3% lower at 7700.3, slipping to a fourth decline in five sessions on continued weakness in commodity stocks. With U.S. stocks providing a soft lead at the end of last week, the benchmark bounced between narrow gains and losses before falling away in the last couple of hours.
The heavyweight materials sector lost 1.1% as iron-ore miners $Fortescue Ltd(FMG.AU$, $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU$ and $Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU$ shed between 0.95% and 1.7%. The trio are down by 7.1%, 4.4% and 8.4%, respectively, so far this month.
Coal and oil stocks also lost ground, pulling the energy sector down by 1.5%.
Banks $CommBank(CBA.AU$, $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd(ANZ.AU$, $Westpac Banking Corp(WBC.AU$ and $National Australia Bank Ltd(NAB.AU$ added between 0.1% and 0.7%.
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Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR, ASX
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