Australian shares have fallen for a third consecutive day, due to uncertainty caused by a debt ceiling stand-off in the US Congress.
Uncertainty about the US budget, caused wrangles over the approaching September 30 deadline, weighed down the big miners and banks on the local market.
BHP Billiton shed 23 cents to $35.87, Rio Tinto dropped 47 cents to $62.10, and gold miner Newcrest lost 12 cents to $11.91.
The major banks were all weaker, with ANZ down 20 cents to $30.99, National Australia Bank off 21 cents to $34.62, Commonwealth Bank down 61 cents at $72.90 and Westpac was six cents lower at $32.74.
PhillipCapital head of private wealth Andrew Sekely said the local market managed to stage a slight recovery from its early lows in afternoon trade.
“The market’s behaving itself pretty well, I’m not particularly worried about it,” he said.
“In fact, from its lowest point it’s recovered by about 20 points.”
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals bucked the wider trend, gaining 13 cents to $4.72.
It announced on Tuesday it had seized control of ore processing operations amid safety worries at a Pilbara mine where a worker died in August.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 18.3 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 5,234.2.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 16.3 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 5,229.5.
* The December share price index futures contract was 27 points lower at 5,236 with 13,620 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.3 billion securities worth $3.0 billion.
