Australian market opens lower as traders spurn mining stocks

The sharemarket tumbled nearly 1pc before noon amid heavy selling in the mining sector.

The Australian sharemarket has been hit by falling commodity prices.

The Australian share market has continued to fall as the resources sector in particular is hit by heavy selling.

At noon (AEST), the S & P ASX/200 index was down 49.4 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,428.9 points, following a fall on Wall Street and a weaker Australian dollar.

The broader All Ordinaries index was down 47.5 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 5,526.

The US dollar is gaining ground ahead of the release of a US labour market report on Friday, a factor contributing to weakness in commodity-related stocks.

Rio Tinto had dropped $1.63 to $47.27, BHP Billiton was down 67.5 cents to $20.43 and Woodside Petroleum was 29 cents weaker at $28.59 in the wake of weaker prices for copper, gold and oil.

Biotechnology giant CSL had dropped $1.43 to $108.71.

The big four banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank down 83 cents at $72.07 and Westpac down 28.5 cents at $29.36, while National Australia Bank was up six cents at $27.30 and ANZ was 19 cents higher at $26.73.

Bucking the broader trend was retailer Harvey Norman, which gained 24 cents to $5.48 after posting a 30 per cent rise in annual net profit.

AAP