Australian shares ended slightly lower on Friday, after the S&P/ASX 200 index on Thursday notched its highest close since May 5, 2015. The S&P/ASX 200 index was off 0.2 percent, or 10.51 points, at 5,805.8 by the close of trade. Lower iron ore and copper prices dragged basic material stocks down. The S&P/ASX 200 materials index slipped into negative territory, after hitting more than a two-year high in the previous session.
Mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shedding 1.1 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, making their biggest falls in two weeks. BHP Billiton's management and worker positions in a strike at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest mine, remain distant. Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals lost 2.4 percent. Shares in industrial building material's company James Hardie Australia fell to a three-month low.
Healthcare stocks were the second biggest losers, with CSL Ltd, Sonic Healthcare and Cochlear Ltd dropping between 1.3 percent and 2.2 percent.
The benchmark energy index fell for a fourth consecutive day at 0.5 percent. Origin Energy hit over a five-week low while WorleyParsons Ltd slipped 2.6 percent. Hotel operator Mantra Group Ltd, the worst performer on the main index, slumped 5.6 percent after half-year core earnings of its Central Business District segment dipped. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended 0.1 percent, or 6.46 points lower, at 7093.52. Telecoms and utilities were the biggest losers on the index. Spark New Zealand dropped 2.3 percent while Meridian Energy fell for a fifth straight session to more than a five-week low.
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