The Australian share market has closed lower, with overnight losses on Wall Street weighing on investors' minds despite another rise in iron ore prices.
Breaking a three-day run of gains, the All Ordinaries index finished the session down 33 points at 5,922.
The ASX 200 fell 34 points or nearly 0.6 per cent to 5,949.
The red ink included the resources sector even though the Chinese iron ore benchmark rose further overnight to $US58.70 a tonne.
BHP Billiton escaped relatively lightly, closing just under 0.5 per cent lower, while Rio Tinto fell 1.6 per cent and Fortescue dropped 4.7 per cent.
Newcrest was a notable exception to the sector's woes, jumping 3.6 per cent as spot gold jumped to $US1,201 an ounce.
Finance stocks did not avoid the market sell-off, with all the big four banks affected.
Westpac was hardest hit, falling 1.2 per cent, ANZ closed 0.5 per cent lower and NAB and the Commonwealth each slipped around 0.2 per cent.
There were some bright spots in the retail sector, with Woolworths gaining 2 per cent, Myer 1.9 per cent and Harvey Norman 1.6 per cent.
Unlike iron ore, global oil prices eased overnight, with West Texas crude dipping to $US55 and 36 cents a barrel.
Tapid crude in Singapore was at $US64.99 a barrel just after 5:00pm (AEST).
The Australian dollar followed iron ore rather than oil and by late afternoon it was back up to 78.7 US cents.
The currency was also buying around 72.4 euro cents, 51.7 British pence, 93.7 Japanese yen and 103.2 New Zealand cents.
Source: ABC
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