Australia shares weighed by banks amid coronavirus lockdowns

Banks pressured Australian shares on Thursday as lockdowns to curb the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus remained in place.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.4% to 7,285.1 points on the first day of the new financial year. The benchmark rose 0.2% on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.1%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures gained 0.2%.

In the past few days, major cities, including Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, have gone into a lockdown.

Around one-in-two Australians are now under stay-at-home orders and millions of others subjected to movement curbs and mandatory mask-wearing.

The financial index was the top percentage loser on the bourse, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia shedding 0.7%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Corp dropping 0.6%.

Gold stocks gained the most among sectors, up 1%, benefiting from firmer bullion prices.

Geopacific Resources added as much as 12.2% and was the top percentage gainer on the sub-index, while Newcrest Mining gained 0.8%.

Australia's top power producer rose 1.6%. Its shares fell 10% in the previous session as the company outlined plans to split into a bulk power generator and a carbon-neutral energy retailer by June 2022 as well as stop paying special dividends.

Technology stocks took their cue from a weak overnight session on the tech-heavy Nasdaq and fell 0.1%.

Software maker Altium Ltd lost 0.5% and software solutions provider WiseTech Global fell 0.8%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was flat at 12,651.1.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd and Z Energy Ltd were the top percentage losers on the index.