Australian shares fell on Thursday, extending two-day losses to nearly 1.5 percent, as a stronger US dollar weighed on energy and mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.6 percent, or 32.86 points, to 5,323.3 at the close of trade. The benchmark fell 0.74 percent on Wednesday. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.1 percent or 79 points to finish the session at 6,903.6 points.
Miners were the biggest losers with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto tumbling 4.9 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. Gold miners such as Newcrest and Evolution slumped more than 7 percent. Energy shares were in the red too with Origin and Santos losing more than 4 percent each. "(The) gold sector is starting to sell off its recent highs as the gold price in US dollar terms has done virtually nothing over the last 6 weeks," said Mark Lennox, chief executive and client advisor at HC Securities.
"Clients are taking the view that (the) gold price is struggling to find momentum despite the momentum in domestically listed gold plays and as such are removing risk from their portfolios." On the positive side, electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi jumped more than 4 percent after it said it was in early talks for a possible buyout of privately-held rival The Good Guys. Building materials supplier James Hardie rose over 6 percent on share buyback and positive earnings outlook. The big banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank up 0.2 percent, ANZ Banking rising 0.9 percent while National Australia Bank trading 0.2 percent lower.
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