Australian shares ended on a dour note on Tuesday as losses in commodity stocks outweighed a relief rally for banks after Commonwealth settled a civil lawsuit filed by financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.5 percent lower, or 30.6 points at 5,994.9. The benchmark rose 0.6 percent on Monday. Australia's central bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows as expected, flagging lukewarm inflation and wage growth.
Mining stocks declined on weak metal prices, notably iron ore, while a sharp overnight fall in global oil prices hurt energy shares. Global mining heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both fell 1.4 percent. Gas supplier Origin Energy lost 2.4 percent, while Woodside Petroleum shed 0.7 percent. Real estate stocks were under pressure with Mirvac Group falling 3.5 percent after UBS downgraded the stock, citing weaker home prices, said Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut.
Credit tightening could impact "Mirvac's best customer, the investor, and best market, Sydney," said UBS in a note. Home prices across Australia's major cities eased for an eighth straight month in May as tighter lending standards at banks cooled demand in Sydney and Melbourne. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 1.4 percent or 120.88 points, to a record closing high of 8,757.0.
The index enjoyed broad gains led by dairy producer A2 Milk Company, which added 5.3 percent. Peer Fonterra Co-Operative Group rose about 1 percent after it said total domestic milk production in April rose 3 percent.
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