* Gold stocks biggest losers on the benchmark
* Afterpay hits its lowest in over three weeks
* Viva Energy falls after reporting annual loss
Feb 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Wednesday as a drop in gold and iron ore prices pressured commodity-related stocks after a stellar two-session rally on economic recovery optimism.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.5% to 6,806.4 by 0035 GMT, after closing 0.9% higher on Tuesday.
Miners .AXMM declined 1.6% to dominate losses on the benchmark index, weighed down by a drop in Chinese iron ore futures after top steel-producing city Tangshan issued a second-level pollution alert forcing mills to curb production. IRONORE/
Global miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX fell 1.9%, while rival BHP Ltd BHP.AX shed up to 2.6%.
Gold stocks .AXGD slipped 2.5% in their biggest intraday percentage drop in nearly a week, as a firmer U.S. dollar dented the metal's appeal. GOL/
Newcrest Mining NCM.AX , Australia's largest listed gold miner, lost 1.7%, while Northern Star Resources NST.AX slid 3.1%.
Heavyweight financial stocks .AXFJ were down 0.4%, with three of the "Big Four" banks trading in negative territory.
Technology stocks .AXIJ tracked their U.S peers lower, with buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay APT.AX shedding as much as 3.6% to hit a more than three-week low ahead of its half-year results due on Thursday.
Woolworths Group WOW.AX jumped to a one-week high before paring some of the gains. The country's largest supermarket chain warned of slowing sales growth ahead after a pandemic-driven surge in demand helped it post a jump in first-half profit. stocks .AXEJ rose marginally, but gains were limited by fuel supplier Viva Energy Group, which fell as much as 2.1% after reporting a full-year loss compared to a profit in the previous year. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was down 0.2% to 12,364.59 by 0035 GMT. Construction firm Fletcher Building FBU.NZ was among the biggest losers on the benchmark.
New Zealand's central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at a historic low of 0.25% at its first monetary policy decision of 2021 later in the day, according to a Reuters poll.