Australian shares have dropped in today's early trading as the price of iron ore continues to decline, while Wall Street indices spent most of the day in negative territory.
At 10:40am AEST, the benchmark ASX 200 was down 0.7 per cent, to 7,409, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 0.7 per cent, to 7,708.
All sectors — except health care, industrials and education — weighed on the ASX.
The resources sector was the biggest drag on the market.
It comes as the price of iron ore fell below tumbled below $US110 overnight after hitting a high of $US230 a tonne in May.
Iron ore fell by US$6.90, or 6.1 per cent overnight, to $US106.50 per tonne, according to CBA.
Fortescue Metals was the biggest loser on the ASX 200, down (-7.48 per cent).
BHP shares fell by 3.2 per cent, after tumbling 3.3 per cent on Wall Street and in London.
Rio Tino shares lost 4 per cent on the ASX, after suffering similar losses on the New York and London stock exchanges.
Other stocks dragging on the market included: Alumina (-3.3 per cent), Aristocrat Leisure (-3.2 per cent) and Chalice Mining (-3.1 per cent).
The top-performing stocks on the ASX 200 were Afterpay (+3.3 per cent), Incitec Pivot (+1.3 per cent), Appen (+1.3 per cent) and Magellan Financial Group (+0.8 per cent).
Mixed day on Wall Street
More broadly, US investors responded to mixed economic data on retail sales and jobless claims and rising US government bond yields.
The S&P 500 closed 0.2 per cent lower, at 4,473, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended the day 0.2 per cent lower, at 34,751. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1 per cent, to close at 15,181.
The number of first-time applicants for unemployment benefits came in at 320,000, or 20,000 more than the previous week.
Retail sales rose 0.7 per cent in August, on the back of stronger online purchases.
Amazon stocks gained 0.3 per cent, clothing company Gap closed 1.5 per cent higher, online marketplace Etsy rose by 3 per cent.
"Looking at today, clearly we had positive news from retail sales and it looks as if the massive slowdown in the economy is not materialising as a lot of people expected," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial.
Energy stocks down
Energy stocks tumbled after oil prices cooled following Wednesday's surge as threats to the Gulf of Mexico from Hurricane Nicholas lessened.
The benchmark Texas crude oil dropped 0.1 per cent, to $US72.50 a barrel, while Brent crude oil gained 0.1 per cent, to 75.58 a barrel.
Spot gold was worth down 0.9 per cent, to $US1,755 an ounce.
The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds was up 2 basis points, to 1.324 per cent.
The two-year US Treasury bond yield was up 0.6 basis points, at 0.219 per cent.
In European markets, the STOXX 600 index gained 0.4 per cent, to sit at 465.9, Germany’s DAX closed almost a 0.25 per cent higher, at 15,651, and Britain's FTSE rose 0.16 per cent, to 7,027.
ABC/Reuters
