SYDNEY, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Falls in Australia's banks and miners have left the local market down almost half a percent at Wednesday's opening as investors take note of a rate rise by Westpac and soft commodities.
At the 10.15 a.m. (AEDT) official market opening, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index fell 23.1 points, or 0.44 percent, to 5179.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 21 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5215.6 points.
Financials gave up 0.61 percent overall with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.66 percent, ANZ slumped 0.96 percent, the National Australia Bank (NAB) slipped 0.45 percent while Westpac is in a trading halt pending the completion of a 3.5 billion Australian dollar capital raising.
As a sector, materials dropped 0.35 percent with BHP Billiton down 0.16 percent. However, rival Rio Tinto gained 0.11 percent.
Energy stocks have fallen for the third session in a row, with Oil Search 0.68 percent weaker, Santos down 4.5 percent while Woodside Petroleum lost 0.67 percent.
In the consumer staples, Wesfarmers fell 0.89 percent while Woolworths shed 0.75 percent.
Telstra is down 0.18 percent while Qantas gained 0.54 percent.
