Miners jittery on iron ore restart

THE Australian share market lost ground yesterday for the second-straight session as a drop in the price of iron ore put pressure on miners.

The benchmark ASX 200 fell 19.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 6165.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 24.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6251.8.

It was “a bit of disappointment,” Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee said. The announcement that iron ore major Vale had been given permission to restart production on a shuttered mine in Brazil caused future prices in the commodity to drop 5 per cent, Ms Lee said.

Shares in Rio Tinto fell 2.8 per cent to $92.09, BHP lost 1 per cent to $37.20 and Fortescue Metals was down 6.7 per cent at $6.36.

Tech stocks led gainers, up a collective 1.1 per cent, with Xero up 3.1 per cent to $50, Altium Limited up 2.9 per cent to $34.48, and Livetiles up 12.2 per cent to 50.5c.

The big banks were mixed, with the Commonwealth Bank down 0.8 per cent to $70.79 and Westpac 0.3 per cent weaker at $26.34. ANZ was up 0.2 per cent to $26.35 and National Australia Bank gained 0.4 per cent to $25.07. Wesfarmers rose 0.4 per cent to $34.80 after Bunnings said it aimed to have a full online shopping offer, with click and collect and delivery, in place nationally next year.

Nufarm fell 23.9 per cent to $4.23 after the agricultural company suspended its interim dividend following losses it blamed on drought conditions in Australia.