MELBOURNE: Australian shares fell 0.2 percent on Monday, ending a six-day wining streak, as BHP Billiton and other miners pulled back from recent highs as copper prices in London started the week lower on worries

over Chinese demand for industrial raw materials.

The underlying S&P/ASX 200 index lost 9 points to end at 4,733.6, according to the latest data. Gains last week had put it back above 4,700 for the first time since Japan was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.6 percent to 3,408.