Aus shares take a dive

AUSTRALIAN shares have fallen, dragged down by share price falls by the major miners and the big four banks amid dovish comments by US and European central banks.

The benchmark S&P/ ASX200 index closed down 24.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6198.7 points yesterday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 22.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 6294.1.

“It was a pretty weak session,” CommSec market analyst James Tao said, adding that the market was likely responding to dovish minutes released by the US Federal Reserve and a decision by the European Central Bank to hold interest rates unchanged.

Health care stocks led declines, down 0.91 per cent, with pharma giant CSL dropping 1.23 per cent to $199.

All the big banks were in the red, while the materials sector was down 0.91 per cent.

Crown Resorts gained 2.66 per cent to $13.11.