The Australian sharemarket closed lower on Friday, extending weekly losses as investors continued to reduce exposure to mining stocks amid weakening iron ore prices and concerns over slowing steel demand.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 61.0 points, or 0.7%, to 8,625.1, with five of the benchmark's 11 sectors finishing in negative territory.
For the week, the index declined 1.2%.
The Materials sector led the market lower as iron ore futures in Singapore fell to multi-month lows.
BHP dropped 2.5%, Rio Tinto lost 1.9%, and Fortescue fell 2.3%.
Gold producers were also under pressure as spot gold prices retreated ahead of key U.S. economic data.
Northern Star Resources declined 2.5%, Evolution Mining fell 3.1%, Newmont Corporation lost 1.2%, St Barbara dropped 4.2%, and Bellevue Gold slid 5.5%.
The Energy sector also weakened as investors monitored developments in the Middle East, with little indication of progress in ceasefire negotiations across the region.
Santos fell 0.6%, Woodside Energy declined 1.3%, Viva Energy lost 2.2%, and Beach Energy dropped 1.8%.
Financial stocks added to the market's decline. Commonwealth Bank retreated 1.7%, Westpac fell 1.2%, National Australia Bank lost 1.1%, and ANZ declined 1.0%.
Despite the broader market weakness, several individual companies posted strong gains.
Megaport surged 11.3% after resuming trading following a $518 million equity raising. The company said the funds would be used to invest in Nvidia chips as part of an expansion of its artificial intelligence capabilities.
Ainsworth Game Technology rallied 16.8% after chairman Danny Gladstone and company secretary Mark Ludski resigned following reports relating to historical personal payments.
On the bond markets, Australian government yields were little changed. The 10-year bond yield was flat at 4.911%, while the two-year yield eased 0.4% to 4.6%.
