Australian shares slumped to a one-month low on Monday, falling the most since October 2 as investors fretted about tumbling commodity prices and the risk of a US rate hike in December. The S&P/ASX 200 index skidded 1.8 percent, or 95.5 points, to 5,119.5 at the close of trade. It rose 0.4 percent on Friday. The market has fallen in seven out of the last 10 sessions, led by a rout in banking stocks on concerns of slowing profit growth. It is down 5 percent so far this year.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index dipped 0.4 percent or 21.9 points to finish the session at 6,047.9. "Traders are wary the market may take a turn for the worse in the short term as expectations of a US rate hike increase," said Mark Lennox, senior private adviser at HC Securities. The market has fallen in seven out of the last 10 sessions, led by a rout in banking stocks. It is down nearly 5 percent so far this year. Australia's four major banks - CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac - posted their sixth straight year of record profits but are preparing for their slowest earnings growth since the global financial crisis as the economy cools and stricter capital regulations bite.
Resources and banks led the declines on Monday with gold miners the worst hit, as the precious metal languished near its lowest level in three months. Newcrest Mining, Regis Resources, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources plunged 6-8 percent. Major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were off 3.5 percent and 2.8 percent respectively. Chinese iron ore imports dipped 12.3 percent in October while BHP on Monday said it was reviewing its iron ore guidance after a mine disaster in Brazil.
ANZ was the biggest loser among the major banks, down 1.4 percent followed by National Australia Bank which was off 1.2 percent. Westpac and CBA slipped about 0.7 percent each. In contrast, New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index scaled a fresh record high for the fifth consecutive session. It was last up 0.13 percent or 8.12 points at 6,077.86. The 50-share index is up more than 9 percent so far this year, on track for delivering positive returns for the fourth straight year.
Xero continued to beat the index after earnings met expectations last week. It was last up 3.6 percent at NZ$19.93. Freightways Ltd and Kathmandu were among other top performers on Monday, up more than 1 percent each. Telecommunications provider Spark New Zealand was among the top most traded stock, up 0.15 percent.