Australian shares fall

Australian shares fell on Tuesday as investors shrugged off a rebound in iron ore prices and booked gains after a recent winning streak. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.6 percent or 34.2 points to 5948.5 by the close of trade. The benchmark hit a seven-year closing high of 5,982.7 on Monday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index edged up 4.2 points or 0.1 percent to finish the session at 5769.7.
Iron ore futures have risen in recent sessions as Chinese steel mills pick up their purchasing of the raw building material, but investors still avoided resource stocks amid concerns the pick-up may be short-lived. A weaker finish on Wall Street also dragged down Australian health stocks after that sector led US equities lower. "That 6,000 level is becoming more and more significant," said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.
"Each time we pull back from that level it becomes a more significant hurdle so it looks like it will need a fairly significant change for the market to get through that." Echoing Wall Street, health stocks were the biggest drag in Australia with global blood plasma products maker CSL down 1.5 percent, medical device maker ResMed and hearing aid maker Cochlear both off by 3 percent.
Mining giant Rio Tinto fell 1 percent while rival BHP Billiton held steady. Energy stocks tracked the commodity's spot price lower, with Oil Search down 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum down 0.2 percent. Banks were mixed, with Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group both fell about half of 1 percent, while National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.2 percent each.
Elsewhere, recruiting agent Ashley Services Group dropped by two thirds after issuing an earnings downgrade. New Zealand's construction materials maker Fletcher Building rose nearly 2 percent after a fund manager said it reduced its stake in the firm, the largest on the NZX50. Steel and Tube rose 1.8 percent while casino operator SkyCity Entertainment rose 1.8 percent and online auction site Trade Me pushed up 1.4 percent. Orion Health Group rose 3 percent after saying full-year operating revenue rose 7 percent.