Australian shares slipped for a fifth session on Monday, weighed down by losses in mining stocks on weak commodity prices, while Chevron sought to halt strike action at its facilities in the country with appeal to the workplace tribunal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 7,139.3 by 0047 GMT.
The benchmark ended 0.2% lower on Friday.
Chevron said it would ask Australia’s industrial relations tribunal to intervene to halt strike action at its Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.
Mining stocks fell 0.7%, extending declines for a fifth session, after copper and iron ore prices closed lower on Friday. Mining giants BHP Group and Rio Tinto both lost 0.2%.
Gold stocks fell 0.7% even after bullion prices closed higher on Friday.
Sector majors Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources lost 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively.
Financial stocks edged higher 0.4%, with the “big four” banks gaining between 0.3% and 0.7%.
Energy stocks rose 0.1%, even as oil prices eased in early Asian trade as China’s economic concerns weighed on the outlook for fuel demand.
Woodside Energy climbed 0.5% and Santos rose 0.6%.
New Zealand’s benchmark stock index fell 0.2% to 11,324.23, declining for a seventh consecutive session.
Higher living costs are set to be the central theme in the Oct. 14 election after inflation surged to three-decade highs and interest rates rose sharply.