Australian shares started the week lower with weaker commodity prices contributing to big falls in mining stocks.
At the close of trade on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 22.8 points, or 0.52 per cent, at 4,385.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 21.6 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 4,409.2.
On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 12 points lower at 4,398 with 22,289 contracts traded.
The market also received weak overseas leads, with Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US closing weaker on Friday.
CMC Markets senior trader Tim Waterer said the weak commodity prices included a $US10 fall in the gold price and had led to falls in Asian stocks.
He said he also believed investors wanted clarity around the Spanish bail-out situation until they pushed risk assets higher.
“Those factors all translated into a soft performance by materials stocks today on the index,” Mr Waterer told AAP.
“Once commodity prices opened on the downside it set the tone and the market was always up against it.”
Mining stocks reacted to that news finishing about 1.3 per cent weaker while energy companies were about one per cent worse off.
BHP Billiton was 29 cents lower at $33.41, Rio Tinto dropped $1.36 to $54.97 and Fortescue fell one cent to $3.60.
Mining services companies had a tough day on news that BHP had axed a large part of a iron ore-related contract with NRW Holdings, that would cost the latter $80 million in revenue.
NRW was nine cents off at $2.25, while fellow contractor Macmahon was 0.5 cent down at 30 cents.
ANZ was 14 cents lower at $24.70, National Australia Bank gained 10 to $25.50, Westpac had lost four cents to $24.58 and Commonwealth Bank shed seven cents to $55.08.
In other local news, agricultural chemicals maker Nufarm has reported net profit of $72.6 million for the year to July 31, 2012, up from a loss of $49.9 million in the prior corresponding period.
Nufarm shares were down eight cents, or 1.4 per cent, at $5.77.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.6 billion securities worth $3.87 billion, with 400 stocks up, 556 down and 316 unchanged.
