Australian stocks fell the most in nearly a month on Monday, hurt by weak data from the two biggest global economies, Europe's debt crisis and worries about the impact on corporate profits from Canberra's carbon tax plan unveiled on Sunday. Coal miners, steel and airlines such as Macarthur Coal, BlueScope Steel and Virgin Australia were trading sharply down on concern over the tax.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 72.435 points to 4,582.30 marking its sharpest drop since June 16, according to latest available data. The index also closed at its lowest level since June 29. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index dropped 0.64 percent to 3,434.135 points.