By Aparajita Saxena
Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares tumbled on Wednesday as losses on Wall Street were compounded by retail giant Wesfarmers Ltd WES.AX slipping on disappointing quarterly sales.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO stumbled 1.5 percent or 81.83 points to 5,360.4 by 0204 GMT. The index fell as much as 1.6 percent in morning deals to its lowest in a month.
"There are several company-specific negative stories," said Chris Conway, Head of Research at Australian Stock Report, adding that Wall Street's weak performance further dented sentiment.
Shares in Wesfarmers slipped 5 percent after the company's first quarter sales undershot market expectations. Same-store food and liquor sales at its Coles supermarket chain rose 1.8 per cent in the three months ending September, down on growth of 3.3 per cent in the June quarter. majors were also hit hard after an overnight drop in oil prices, with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX falling 2.2 percent, and Oil Search OSH.AX off 2.9 percent.
The financial index .AXFJ dipped 1.5 percent, with all four "Big Banks" down 1.2 percent to 1.5 percent, as investors braced for National Australia Bank's NAB.AX earnings due Thursday.
The morning spotlight was on entertainment company Ardent Leisure AAD.AX , which plummeted 22 percent after confirming four fatalities at its theme park in Queensland on Tuesday. decline set the stock on course for its worst day in more than 1 1/2 years.
Telstra TLS.AX inched lower 0.8 percent, while Qantas Airways QAN.AX lost 2.8 percent, tracking broader market movement.
Moving in the positive direction, iron miners Fortescue Metals FMG.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX rose 2 percent and 1 percent receptively, cheered by a rally in both iron and copper. Chinese iron ore futures surged 6 percent to their highest in more than two years on Tuesday, while copper prices rose to their highest in more than a week. major Newcrest Mining NCM.AX rose as much as 1.3 percent in early trade, before pulling back 0.2 percent by midday. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 slipped 1.1 percent or 78.71 points to 6,924.16, led by industrial stocks.
Auckland International Airport AIA.NZ , among the biggest losers on the benchmark fell 3 percent after announcing a retail bond offer, while Sky Network Television SKT.NZ shed about 2 percent.
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