Fears of a fall in iron ore prices are hitting the big miners and weighing on the share market.
Shares in BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are almost two per cent lower as the World Bank predicts an iron ore glut will last another two years.
“I would say that is the biggest driver,” Morgans private client adviser Alistair McCorquodale said.
Rio Tinto was down $1.13 at $61.27 and BHP had dropped 51.5 cents to $32.795.
But iron ore miner Fortescue Metals was higher, adding three cents to $2.32 after it launched a $US2.5 billion senior secured debt issue and pushed back the maturity date on its $US4.9 billion in loans.
The big banks are also weaker, mainly due to weakness on Wall Street and other international equity markets, Mr McCorquodale said.
“I’d expect the banks to move in line with that,” he said.
“There might be some profit taking in the banks.”
Commonwealth Bank had dropped 46 cents to $90.67, ANZ had fallen 17 cents to $35.35, NAB was down five cents at $38.04 and Westpac was 33 cents weaker to $37.58.
The energy sector was one of the few to rise, as crude oil prices rallied.
Woodside Petroleum had gained 24 cents to $35.34, Santos was up six cents at $7.99 and Oil Search was 9.5 cents higher at $8.165.
Department store Myer had gained 1.5 cents to $1.62 after official data showed a 0.4 per cent rise in retail spending during January.
But Harvey Norman was down two cents at $4.49 and JB Hi-Fi was six cents weaker at $17.26.
KEY FACTS
* At 1200 AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 24 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 5,877.6.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 23.2 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,848.3.
* The March share price index futures contract was 16 points lower at 5,867, with 9,506 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 515 million securities worth $1.4 billion.
