Australian shares ended lower on Friday, dragged down by major banks and heavyweight miners, as a slew of weak economic data from China and growing global inflation concerns doused risk appetite.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2% to end at 7,185.5 and finished the week 2.1% lower. The benchmark rose 1.88% on Thursday.
Australia's top trading partner, China, is in the grip of a power crunch, impacting the country's factory activity which unexpectedly shrank in September, while a softened property market dealt a fresh blow to the waning economic momentum.
However, Australia lifting restrictions on international travel ahead of schedule next month, aided sentiment and drove travel and tourism stocks higher.
"Australian market is mainly pulling back on China growth worries and instability in its real estate market, along with stagflation and tapering worries in the US," said Mathan Somasundaram, chief executive officer at Deep Data Analytics.
"Concerns are looming over China's economic slowdown with the country flagging that it's in no hurry push up stimulus and suggesting bailing out the locals while leaving offshore investors out in the cold."
Financials fell 2.8%, with the country's largest lender Commonwealth Bank leading losses, skidding 4.1%, followed by Westpac, down 2.3%.
Miners dropped 1.9% as prices of copper, aluminium and nickel fell on a firmer US dollar. Mount Gibson Iron Ltd was the top loser on the sub-index, dropping 7.3%, followed by Mineral Resources Ltd , losing 6.9%.
Travel stocks were a rare bright spot on the local bourse after reports of the nation's reopening plan. Travel firm Webjet gained as much as 2.4%, while flight operator Qantas Airways jumped up to 1.8%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index finished flat at 13,279.2.
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