The Australian share market is lower as falling iron ore prices affect the materials sector.
Iron ore is trading around $US75 per tonne and there’s concern that prices will fall lower.
The big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are under pressure and mid-tier iron ore players BC Iron and Atlas Iron are the worst performers on the local market.
Bell Direct equities analyst Leanne Jones said changes in commodity analysts’ expectations were affecting the iron ore sector and financial stocks weighed heavily on the local bourse.
“We’re really coming under pressure,” Ms Jones said.
“Materials are still under pressure.
“We’re seeing cautious trading today after weakness on Wall Street overnight.”
BHP fell 71 cents to $33.46, Rio Tinto shed 79 cents to $59.72 and Fortescue Metals lost 7.5 cents to $2.94, ahead of its annual general meeting.
The big four banks were all lower, with Commonwealth Bank falling 66 cents to $82.34 as chairman David Turner said it was “cautiously positive” about 2015 financial year. .
Westpac dropped 26.5 cents to $33.36, ANZ lost 26.5 cents to $32.24 and National Australia Bank declined 24.5 cents to $32.69.
Macquarie Group reversed $1.50, or 2.4 per cent, to $60.35 after going ex-dividend.
Department store Myer lost eight cents to $1.82 after revealing a flat set of first quarter sales results.
US stocks set fresh records for the fifth straight session on Tuesday night, but just barely, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by a mere 0.01 per cent and the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 edging up 0.07 per cent.
KEY FACTS
* At 1200 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 38.1 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 5,479 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 34.5 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 5,459.5 points.
* The December share price index futures contract was down 39 points at 5,493 points, with 11,125 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 447 million securities worth $1.4 billion.
