Australian shares fall

Australian stocks racked up their biggest one-day loss in four weeks on Tuesday, tumbling 1.5 percent as mining and energy stocks went into retreat just one day after the market hit a 12-month peak. A decline in oil prices on worries that fuel costs may threaten the tentative global recovery sparked selling across the resource sector as investors took profits, weakening the Australian dollar along the way.
IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said the fall in crude, which followed downgrades to growth by the IMF and negative comments by Goldman Sachs, triggered selling pressure in riskier assets such as stocks. Global miner BHP Billiton ended down 1.3 percent to A$48.89 and Woodside Petroleum, the nation's largest oil and gas company, fell 2.8 percent to A$46.83 a day after BHP denied it was lining up a bid for Woodside.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 72.5 points to 4,898.7. Tuesday's slide was the biggest since March 15, when the earthquake and tsunami in Japan sparked panic selling. The index hit a 12-month high on Monday just shy of 5,000 as top stock BHP posted its biggest one-day percentage gain in 11 months. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index eased 0.3 percent to 3,451.3.
Shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd lost 3.7 percent to A$6.54 after the iron ore producer said heavy rains slashed March quarter shipments by 16 percent to 8.37 million tonnes. Losses were widespread among mid-cap miners that have rallied sharply in recent weeks, including Atlas Iron down 5.4 percent and Oz Minerals down 4.4 percent.