Feb 17 (Reuters) - Low iron ore and copper prices weighed on Australian basic materials shares on Friday, taking the ASX 200 index .AXJO 0.23 percent or 13.11 points lower to 5,800 at 0113 GMT. The index rose 0.1 percent on Thursday.
"Materials and energy have been outperforming for a while, so today's performance is a correction in what's been a strong period for the mining sector", said Damien Hennessy, co-founder of Heuristic Investment Systems.
Chinese iron ore futures slid more than 2 percent on Thursday.
"There's a lot of uncertainty around where the price of iron ore should be, it was being picked up by a rise in demand and supply disruptions and restrictions particularly out of China".
Global miner BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX shed 1.7 percent, as management and worker positions in a strike at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest mine, remain distant. Tinto RIO.AX dropped 1.9 percent.
Healthcare stocks were the second biggest losers on the index, with Ansell ANN.AX and CSL CSL.AX dropping as much as 2.7 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.
Energy stocks mirrored their Wall Street peers, with the benchmark energy index .AXEJ dropping 0.9 percent, on track for its fourth losing session.
Electricity generator Origin Energy ORG.AX dropped to its lowest in more than a month, shedding about 3 percent.
Virgin Australia VAH.AX also fell about 1.3 percent after posting a 48-percent fall in its first-half underlying pre-tax earnings. ASX financial index .AXFJ rose to its highest in more than a month before paring most of the gains, as a strong advance by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX was offset by health insurer Medibank MPL.AX which lost as much as 5.7 percent during the day.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group clocked its biggest percentage gain in more than two months after its first quarter cash profit rose 31 percent. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.1 percent or 7.78 points to 7092.2.
Manufacturing activity dipped in January from the previous month, a survey showed on Friday. telecom and utilities were the worst performers on the index.
Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare RYM.NZ shed as much as 1.2 percent.
Electricity provider Meridian Energy MEL.NZ lost as much as 1.1 percent, dropping to its lowest in a month and potentially facing a fifth losing session.
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