Iron ore prices declined as a result of weak Chinese trade data and ongoing challenges in the steel industry. China's exports and imports both fell in August, putting pressure on the country's manufacturing sector. Despite efforts to stimulate the struggling property sector through lower mortgage rates, immediate recovery in the iron ore market is uncertain. Prices initially rose to five-month highs but may trend lower in the coming month due to negative steel margins in China, according to analysts from Mysteel.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 1.19 per cent lower at 7,171.00.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 72 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 12.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 66 points.
The SPI futures are down 71 points.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are in the red. The sector with the fewest losses was REITs, down 0.13 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 3.17 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), closing 9.03 per cent higher at $3.02. It was followed by shares in Australian Foundation Investment Company (ASX:AFI) and Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN).
The worst-performing large cap was BHP Group (ASX:BHP), closing 5.18 per cent lower at $43.71. It was followed by shares in Allkem (ASX:AKE) and South32 (ASX:S32).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has lost 0.75 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 1.11 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 1.48 per cent.
Company news
Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX:LPM) announced an exceptional 127m mineralised pegmatite intersection at the Lei Prospect at their Lithium Project. In response, Executive Chairman, Dr Bin Guo, commented: “It represents one of the largest reported mineralised intersections recorded to date from the Bynoe pegmatite field, with visual inspection showing large spodumene crystals of consistent distribution throughout the core sample.”
Blaze Minerals (ASX:BLZ) announced that high grade lithium samples have been returned at the North Spirit Lithium Project. In response, MD Simon Coxhell commented, “the original results from the Ontario Geological Survey completed in 2007 have been confirmed and extended.”
Elsight (ASX:ELS) has announced that their partner, Airobotics, has received a historic U.S. FAA type certification, paving way for security and data capture innovation for commercial drones. In response, the CEO of Airobotics commented, "After a long profound process done with the FAA and many of our partners, we are thrilled to announce that our OPTIMUS 1-EX drone has met all of the specific airworthiness and noise standards set by the FAA.”
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,943.10 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.6 per cent higher at US$119.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.5 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.32 lower at US$87.22 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 63.92 US cents.
