Australian shares fell 26 points, or 0.3%, to 9,089 in early trade on Monday, extending losses for a fourth consecutive session and touching a two-week low. Sentiment weakened following Wall Street’s decline on Friday, which was dragged lower by a soft U.S. retail sales report and pullbacks in major technology names.
Investors also adopted a cautious stance ahead of key economic releases from China, Australia’s largest trading partner, due later today. The data set includes July industrial production, retail sales, and the surveyed unemployment rate.
On the domestic front, Q2 housing finance in Australia fell to its lowest level in three quarters, though the pace of contraction moderated compared with the previous period. Market participants are also awaiting July labor force figures later this week, after the unemployment rate held steady in June.
Losses were broad-based across sectors, with notable weakness in retail trade, consumer non-durables, manufacturing, and transport. Two of the four major banks dropped between 1.5% and 3.8%. Among individual names, Suncorp Group slipped 4.6%, Wesfarmers Ltd. declined 2.9%, Pro Medicus lost 2.4%, and Technology One fell 1.4%.
