The Australian share market finished lower due to falls in the resources sector.
Options Xpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said Australian shares largely followed the Shanghai composite index lower on Tuesday.
“We underperformed the Asian region overall,” Mr Le Brun said.
“We were really kept in check all day by the resources and materials space, which came out of the blocks lower and finished down in the dumps.”
Financial and banking stocks were unable to push the local index into positive territory.
Chinese shares were up 0.18 per cent in early trade on Tuesday, tracking rises on Wall Street, but concerns over the strength of the domestic economic rebound could limit gains, dealers said.
Shares in Australia’s largest energy-only producer Woodside Petroleum were down 64 cents, or 1.71 per cent, at $36.75, while number two oil and gas play, Santos, had dropped 40 cents, or 2.95 per cent, to $13.14.
Global miner BHP Billiton was down 15 cents at $35.67 and Rio Tinto had shed $1.18 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $61.92.
Among the banks, National Australia Bank was down 10 cents at $31.54, ANZ fell 15 cents to $29.05 but Commonwealth Bank gained 45 cents to $70.58.
Westpac eased nine cents to $31.16.
On Wall Street in the US on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its seventh straight day of gains.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 29 points, or 0.56 per cent, down at 5,117.9
* The All Ordinaries index was 31.4 points, or 0.61 per cent, weaker at 5,128.6.
* The March share price index futures contract was down 38 points at 5,116, with 27,036 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.6 billion securities worth $4.3 billion.
