Australian shares are trading lower after yesterday's record high, following Wall Street's losses off the back of poor-performing tech stocks.
The benchmark ASX 200 lost half a per cent in early trading at 7,132, while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 0.7 per cent to 7,367.
It comes after a late surge saw the ASX 200 index close at a record high yesterday of 7,172.8.
The Australian dollar was flat and buying 78.33 US cents at 10:35am AEST.
All sectors except utilities and real estate on the broader index were in the red.
Leading the losses among the top-200 companies were business support services business IPH (3.2pc), A2 Milk Company (-3.2pc) and software business Altium (-3pc).
The best performing top-200 companies were all related to building and construction with Adbri (+2pc) leading the gains followed by Boral (+1.4pc), and CSR (+1.3pc).
Boral's strong start comes after the company told shareholders to reject a $6.50 per share takeover from Seven Group Holdings.
Seven Group has been increasing its stake in Boral over the past 14 months and made an off-market offer valuing the company at $7.21billion.
Boral said the offer was opportunistic and undervalued the company.
High iron ore prices likely to continue
The iron ore spot price hit a record-high yesterday and was up 8 per cent to $US229.55 a tonne on the back of surging steel prices in China.
CBA commodity analyst Vivek Dhar said high steel margins in China suggested prices were unlikely to fall in the near term.
"We estimate that Australian iron ore services just over 50 per cent of China's iron ore consumption," he said.
Due to China's dependence on Australian iron ore, Mr Dhar does not believe China's suspension of activities related to the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue last week will trigger a reduction of ban on iron ore imports.
After hitting record highs on the London Stock Exchange, Copper's price was down 0.4 per cent, at $US10,378 per tonne.
Big tech selling hurts Wall Street
While Australia's commodities market and mining sector has boosted the local market, the US market has been battered by tech stocks.
In New York, the Nasdaq Composite dropped (-2.5pc) to 13,401, the Dow Jones index dropped 34 points (-0.1pc) to 34,742, the benchmark S&P 500 slid (-1pc) to 4,188, after sliding from a record closing high.
Tech stocks dragged Wall Street down with Tesla falling 6 per cent, Netflix 4.3 per cent, Facebook 4.1 per cent, Amazon 3.1 per cent and Microsoft and Apple both losing more than 2 per cent.
Inflation fears also drove investors away from the market-leading growth stocks in favour of sectors that will benefit from the US economy reopening, like cyclicals.
Cyber attack shutdown enters its fourth day
A shutdown of the biggest gasoline pipeline in the US has entered its fourth day, hobbling a network that transports nearly half of the east coast's fuel supplies.
The attack on the Colonial Pipeline between Houston and New Jersey has been blamed on a criminal network called DarkSide, which experts say could be based in Russia or Europe.
Its statement did not mention Colonial Pipeline by name.
Ransomware is a type of malware designed to lock computers by encrypting data and demanding payment to regain access.
Increased demand and strained supply of basic materials are helping to fuel inflation worries.
Brent crude oil was down 0.3 per cent and fetching $US68.11 per barrel.
Spot gold was flat and worth $US1,833.81 an ounce.
On the European markets, the STOXX 600 index fell (-0.1pc), along with Britain's FTSE (-0.08pc), and Germany’s DAX closed flat.
