Aussie shares pare early losses but finish lower

Australia's share market has clawed back most of an early-session sell-off to finish the day slightly lower, as the bourse's third-largest company continued to weigh. The S&P/ASX200 fell 11.9 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,853, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 7.8 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 9,120.9. "We saw that early weakness as the ASX 200 fell about 70 points in early trading and for the fourth session in five, it ran into buyers lurking below that 8800 level," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP. "It had that fabulous run higher in August, and now we're just sort of seeing a bit of consolidation, a bit of sideways price action." The subdued session also came ahead of local labour force data and a US interest rate decision later in the week, Mr Sycamore said. Only four sectors finished down for the day, but materials stocks (-0.5 per cent) were heavy with weakness in large cap miners and some profit-taking in gold plays following last week's rallies. Evolution Mining handed back more than half of the previous week's 9.6 per cent gains, as spot gold hovered near its $US3,763.96 ($A5,522) an ounce record. BHP faded 0.6 per cent to $40.58, after iron ore prices edged lower on weaker-than-expected industrial production figures from China, while retail sales growth in the world's second biggest economy also undershot forecasts. Health care stocks led the losses, down 0.8 cent as blood plasma giant CSL tumbled 1.6 per cent to $204.48, its lowest price since June 2019. The ASX's third-largest company has had almost a quarter of its total value wiped in less than a month since its gloomy earnings announcement in August. Financials stocks slipped 0.2 per cent amid mixed performances for the big four banks, as ANZ and CBA slipped 0.6 per cent each and NAB and Westpac rose similar amounts. ANZ avoided downgrades from ratings agency Fitch and investment giant Citi despite copping a record $240 million fine for widespread misconduct in bond trading and customer dealings. Meanwhile, AMP shares surged 6.5 per cent to $1.80 after the financial services group announced an in principle $120 million class action settlement over excessive fees charged by three of its superannuation subsidiaries. Consumer-facing stocks did well, with discretionaries up 0.6 per cent and staples lifting 0.3 per cent, each tracking with gains in their respective segment heavyweights, Woolworths, Coles and Bunnings owner Wesfarmers. Mexican-inspired fast food chain Guzman y Gomez jumped more than five per cent despite going ex-dividend, while Credit Corp lost 1.5 per cent as it locked in its dividend recipients. Qantas, which slipped one per cent to $11.30, goes ex-dividend on Tuesday, with Inghams, Cochlear, A2 Milk and South32 to follow later in the week. The Aussie dollar is clinging onto recent gains, fetching 66.57 US cents and on par with Friday evening, supported by strong iron ore prices last week and as US rate cut hopes weigh on the greenback. ON THE ASX: * The S&P/ASX200 slipped 11.9 points on Monday, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,853 * The broader All Ordinaries fell 7.8 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 9,120.9 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 66.57 US cents, from 66.59 US cents on Friday * 98.22 Japanese yen, from 98.17 Japanese yen * 56.78 euro cents, from 56.72 euro cents * 49.09 British pence, from 49.11 British pence * 111.78 NZ cents, from 111.59 NZ cents