The Australian stock market is lower, due the weakness in the mining sector and the big four banks.
CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said the ASX was lower following a soft lead from Wall Street.
He said the weakest performer was the mining sector, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue all lower following a slide in iron ore prices on Friday.
“Really the big thing holding back the market today is the mining sector, which is down close to one per cent.
BHP Billiton was down 41 cents to $37.39, while Rio Tinto lost 66 cents to $64.74 and Fortescue Metals fell 7.5 cents to $4.34.
Among the major banks, the Commonwealth was 25 cents lower to $80.36, ANZ was 22 cents lower to $33.25, Westpac fell 11 cents to $34.78 and NAB dropped 16 cents to $34.30.
Steel products maker BlueScope Steel’s shares dived 76 cents, or 12.5 per cent, to $5.34 after it reported a full year net loss of $82.4 million.
Fuel supplier Caltex’s shares were up $1.15, or 4.5 per cent, to $26.70 after it said it would cut 350 jobs in a restructure and lifted its first half profit one per cent to $173 million.
KEY FACTS
* At 1220 AEST on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had lost 15.5 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 5,630.1 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 12.5 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,628 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was down 18 points at 5,591 points, with 8,868 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 760 million securities worth $1.3 billion.
