Australian shares finished lower on Tuesday, snapping two straight sessions of gains, hurt by weakness on Wall Street and falling material stocks amid lower commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.22 percent, or 12.73 points to 5,671 at the close of trade.
The day started on a cautious note after US stocks slipped overnight, led by a selloff in technology shares and the latest exchange of inflammatory remarks between North Korea and Washington. Financials, materials and consumer discretionary stocks were the biggest drags on the index.
The financial index slipped 0.4 percent. Among the "Big Four" banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ fell 0.9 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, while Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank Ltd traded flat.
Mining stocks slipped 0.5 percent to almost a five-week low, hurt by a sharp decline in coking coal and iron ore prices. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dropped 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, both hitting an intraday low of over a month. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd lost 2 percent, closing at its weakest since July 24. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent, or 17.41 points, to finish at a record-closing high of at 7,887.18.
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