Australian shares fell for a third straight day on Wednesday, pulled down by financial and healthcare firms as weak domestic growth data and a contraction in US manufacturing activity rekindled fears of a slowdown in global growth.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.3 per cent at 6,553. The benchmark inched down 0.1 per cent on Tuesday.
Australia's economy grew at its slowest pace in a decade last quarter, data showed on Wednesday, as tepid wage growth and a sharp downturn in home building weighed heavily on domestic consumption.
The GDP data "largely" justifies the central bank's recent rate hold and "coupled with increasing risk to the global outlook suggest further easing is likely," Su-Lin Ong, head of Australian and New Zealand fixed income and currency Strategy at
RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.
Weak August manufacturing readings from the world's largest economy added to concerns, indicating that Sino-US trade tensions dented business confidence and stoked fears of a recession.
A weaker US dollar weighed on Australia's export-driven healthcare stocks, which have a large exposure to the US market.
The healthcare index closed 1.4 per cent lower, with CSL Ltd , the country's fourth biggest firm by valuation, down 1.5 per cent, and hospital operator
Ramsay Health Care Ltd fell 1.1 per cent.
Financial stocks, which have the biggest weighting in the benchmark, declined 0.3 per cent. The "Big Four" banks lost between 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent.
Oil Search gained 3.3 per cent and Santos rose 1.3 per cent, far outperforming the broader energy index, which fell 0.2 per cent.
For Oil Search, getting approval on Tuesday from the Papua New Guinea government for a gas deal made it the second biggest gainer on the market benchmark.
Gold stocks jumped 2.2 per cent, boosted by the metal's safe-haven appeal.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index, which fell as much as 0.7 per cent earlier in the day, ended up 0.5 per cent at 11,008.13.
Payment platform Pushpay Holdings Ltd and film-industry focused software developer Vista Group International added 5.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.