(Reuters) - Australian shares edged down on Monday, as lower commodities prices hit materials stocks while financials slipped on fresh revelations of wrongdoing in a high-profile probe into the sector.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> eased 0.1 percent or 7.70 points to 6,186.90 at the close of trade. The benchmark rose 0.4 percent on Friday.
Mining stocks led a selloff in the materials sector as benchmark copper <CMCU3> on the London Metal Exchange slipped 1 percent.
Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd <RIO.AX> declined about 1.2 percent and was among the biggest drags on the benchmark, while South32 Ltd <S32.AX> fell 1.3 percent.
Banks and insurers were also in the red, hurt by damaging testimony of a quasi-judicial inquiry, which has already exposed widespread wrongdoing in the financial sector.
Some of the largest insurers in Australia, including the local units of multinationals, may have broken laws - some of which carry criminal penalties - the inquiry heard last week.
Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX> dropped 0.5 percent to a one-week low, while Suncorp Group Ltd <SUN.AX> slipped 0.6 percent.
The benchmark was also weighed by a 1.4 percent fall in index heavyweight CSL Ltd <CSL.AX>. The drugmaker has rallied about 44 percent since the beginning of the year but has been falling lately on profit taking.
Australia-listed shares of a2 Milk Company Ltd <A2M.AX> slumped 3.8 percent to a two-week low, after the dairy firm's chief executive, Jayne Hrdlicka, sold her entire stake in the company, a disclosure notice issued by the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges showed.
In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> fell 0.4 percent or 38.46 points to finish at 9,337.51.
The benchmark was dragged mainly by a2 Milk <ATM.NZ> which fell 5.4 percent to a two-week low.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
