Australian shares fell on Monday, led by financials and miners, as market participants waited for corporate earnings to see whether profits justify stretched valuations.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.3% to 8,487.1 by 0100 GMT.
The benchmark lost 0.2% last week.
Corporate Australia is widely expected to post flat or modestly higher earnings and a miss to expectations threatens to tip companies off their high valuations.
Financials led losses on the benchmark stock index with a drop of 0.7%.
The sub-index gained nearly 2.1% in the last two sessions.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank both lost 1%.
Miners were down 0.3%, with BHP and Rio Tinto trading 0.8% and 0.6% lower, respectively.
US President Donald Trump said he would announce 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the country.
Australian miners count iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, as one of their top exports.
Tech firms tumbled 1.5% after their Wall Street peers closed lower on Friday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.99% on Friday.
The S&P 500 lost 0.95%, while the Nasdaq declined 1.36%.
Energy stocks lost 0.3% after oil prices posted their third straight weekly loss.
Australian shares flat as miners offset losses in banks
Brent crude futures rose 0.23% to $74.83 a barrel on Monday, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.23% to $71.16 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold miners and healthcare firms were both up 0.1%.
Among individual stocks, medical equipment supplier Ansell rose 6.8% after raising its annual earnings-per-share forecast, while online vehicle marketplace CAR Group fell 6.6% after its first-half results missed street view.
Star Entertainment gained 15.9% after the casino operator said it had received separate offers from its Hong Kong-based investors to acquire a 50% interest in its Destination Brisbane Joint Venture.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.5% at 12,836.42.
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