Australian shares fell on Monday as investors looked past upbeat domestic employment data and sold down resource sectors following continued weakness in the prices of oil and iron ore. Weak US jobs data and a negative lead from offshore equities markets also weighed down the bourse with most major sectors declining by mid-session. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 42.9 points or 0.8 percent at 5,422.7.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.4 percent or 24.96 points to finish the session at 5,609.8. Weak US jobs data and a negative lead from offshore equities markets also weighed down the bourse with most major sectors declining by mid-session.
"Everyone is sitting on the sidelines," said Quay Equities head of trading Tristan K'Nell, noting a slight uptick when data showed Australian job advertisements rose for a seventh straight month in December, a sign of increased demand for labour. "There's not a lot of real incentive for people to put their money to work."
Energy majors posted the biggest losses, with oil producer Santos down 3.3 percent and Origin Energy off by 1.7 percent after oil spot prices ended the week diving to a multi-year low. Woodside Petroleum dipped slightly less, down 1.4 percent, after saying it formed a partnership to explore India's liquefied natural gas prospects. Iron ore miners also fell following a slide in the ore's spot price, led by Fortsecue Metals Group, down nearly 3 percent. BHP Billiton dropped 1.8 percent and Rio Tinto slid 1.3 percent.
The exception among resources concerns were gold producers, with Newcrest Mining jumping 2.7 percent as defensive buying pushed the precious metal's spot price higher. Banks also fell less than the broader index, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.2 percent, National Australia Bank down 0.3 percent and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group down 0.1 percent.
New Zealand's Summerset jumped 3.5 percent to NZ$2.97 ($2), its strongest since September, after a near 50 percent rise in the company's fourth quarter sales raised optimism about its earnings outlook. Gains in Summerset lifted others in the fast-growing retirement services sector, with Metlifecare rising 1.7 percent to a two-week high of NZ$4.74.
Optimism in the overall index boosted bluechip shares, with energy retailer Meridian Energy rising 2.6 percent to NZ$1.80, approaching a lifetime high of NZ$1.81. Construction materials manufacturer Fletcher Building and telecommunications company Spark, the index's two largest companies by market capitalisation, each rose roughly 1 percent to NZ$8.35 and NZ$3.18, respectively.