By Devika Syamnath
May 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares started the week lower on Monday with mining and oil stocks were pressured by weaker commodity prices while banks fell as the powerful Royal Commission inquiry into financial services resumed its work.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.6 percent or 34.6 points to 5998.2 at 0241 GMT. The benchmark shed 0.1 percent on Friday.
The mining index .AXMM saw its seventh straight session of losses and slid as much as 1.8 percent after London aluminium and nickel prices dipped on Friday.
Global miners Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX shed up to 1.1 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd FMG.AX said its board approved the development of a $1.28 billion mine and rail project in Western Australia, in a bid to boost the price it gets for its iron ore. stocks .AXEJ lost up to 3.2 percent to their lowest in more than a month.
"The global economy seems to be slowing at present from solid levels of growth, and oil is off quite a bit. There is a possibility that OPEC might try to increase production." said Damien Hennessy, co-founder of Heuristic Investment Systems.
To address potential supply shortfalls, Saudi Arabia, de-facto leader of producer cartel OPEC, as well as top producer Russia said on Friday they were discussing raising oil production by some 1 million barrels a day. stocks .AXGD also retreated as U.S. President Donald Trump revived hopes of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after cancelling the meeting last week. GOL/
Newcrest Mining NCM.AX led the fall, shedding as much as 1.6 percent to its lowest in more than a month.
Banks also registered losses with the index .AXFJ losing up to 0.5 percent. Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX tracked 0.5 percent lower.
Meanwhile, retail conglomerate Wesfarmers WES.AX was one of the major drags on the benchmark after local media https:// said it was looking to sell its pubs and liquor business days after it announced the sale of its British Homebase chain for just 1 pound. the trend and topping the index, plumbing products maker Reliance Worldwide Corp RWC.AX touched a record after it resumed trade following an announcement last week that it would buy UK-based John Guest Holdings Ltd for about $923 mln. Investa Office Fund IOF.AX hit a near 10-year high on a $2.3 billion buyout offer from Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Group. BX.N the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.1 percent or 5 points at 0212 GMT.
Healthcare and consumer staple stocks weighed the most on the index. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation FPH.NZ and a2 Milk ATM.NZ lost up to 3.8 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.