The Australian share market has fallen into the red despite a positive start, led downwards by mining stocks.
The local bourse started strongly after markets in Europe and the United States rallied overnight. But then investors began to feel nervous about Chinese economic data to be released later this week and early next week.
IG market strategist Evan Lucas said the downturn was surprising given that there appeared nothing to indicate that the upcoming Chinese figures would be weak.
Weakness in China’s economy means there is likely to be weaker demand for Australian resources.
“The (market) fall is being particularly driven by the materials space,” Mr Lucas said.
“It looks like a lot of people are positioning themselves for possibly a weak number out of China’s trade balance numbers on Friday, and possible discrepancies with regard to their GDP (gross domestic product) print next Tuesday.”
In the resources sector at 1200 AEDT, global miner BHP Billiton was down 22 cents to $36.99, Rio Tinto had retreated 71 cents to $65.29, and iron ore producer Fortescue Metals had fallen 8.5 cents to $5.355.
Among the major banks, Westpac improved 3.5 cents to $32.115, ANZ nudged up one cent to $31.87, Commonwealth Bank found 10 cents at $77.82 and National Australia Bank was steady at $34.50.
KEY FACTS
* At 1202 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 6.5 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 5,310.5 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 6.1 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 5,312.7 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was 18 points lower at 5,277 points, with 10,106 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 682.9 million securities worth $1.03 billion.
