PERTH: Australian shares fell 1 percent on Friday as falling iron ore prices encouraged investors to sell mining stocks, putting the index on track for hefty weekly losses.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 61.2 points to 5886.2 by 03:54 GMT. The benchmark had risen 0.7 percent on Thursday and was set to end the week 1.4 percent lower. It has been unable to break a key psychological level of 6,000 points.
The mining sector led losses, with volatile Fortescue Metals (Dusseldorf: FVJ.DU – news) off 5 percent as investors opted to book profits following Thursday’s jump.
BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL – news) and Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 – news) also slipped between 1.2 and 2 percent as iron ore prices remained under pressure around $50 a tonne.
Financials were on the defensive with the “Big Four” banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Other OTC: CBAUF – news) , Westpac Banking Corp , ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank – all off around 1 percent.
