Australian shares lost 0.6 percent on Wednesday to a near 2-week low, driven by losses across the financial sector and a drop among miners as iron ore prices continued to fall - although upbeat GDP data helped to bolster sentiment. Australia's economy grew at its fastest pace in two years last quarter as exports surged by the most since 1999, though the long-awaited revival may have already been endangered by a government crusade for fiscal rectitude.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dipped 34.9 points to 5,444.8 at the close of trade, losing further ground into the afternoon. The benchmark lost 0.7 percent on Tuesday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 0.1 percent to 5,159.3. Australia's gross domestic product was 3.5 percent higher in the first quarter than the year before, a marked pick-up from the 2013 trough of 2.1 percent as booming resource exports and spending by households helped offset a big drag from inventories, lifting the benchmark from session lows of 5,455.0.
The 'Big Four' banks all fell, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 0.6 percent, while third-largest lender Australia and New Zealand Banking Group dropped 0.7 percent as it traded ex-dividend. "My view in the market is that things have run up very high and people are taking some money off the top", said Lucinda Chan, division director at Macquarie Bank in Sydney. Housing sector stocks buoyed the broader market, with Stockland Corp Ltd gaining 1.8 percent to its highest since November, at A$4.02.
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