By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 105.7 points or 1.6% to 6,544.9 during the first hour of Friday’s trade, declining for the first session in four and trading near weekly lows as weaker Iron ore and Copper prices weighed down major mining companies, while easing yields pushed Financials lower.
ASX 200 Futures were trading 0.7% lower.
Among stocks, Materials companies were down 3.3% collectively, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) declining 3.9%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) down 4%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) falling 5.7% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) down 4%.
Major bankers dipped 1.8% overall as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lost 2.8%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) fell 1.8%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) dropped 1.6%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 1.1% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) shed 1.7%.
Real estate companies moved 0.8% lower as Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) fell 0.7%, Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) dipped 0.5% and Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) eased 0.6%, while Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) added 0.3%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.429% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.948%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 eased 0.2% to 11,163.3.