SYDNEY, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market closed lower on Monday, with banking and mining stocks some of the worst hit on the trading floor.
At the market close, the S&P/ASX200 index was down 44.60 points, or 0.78 percent, to finish the day at 5,707.10 points, while the wider-ranged All Ordinaries index was also down 44.40 points, or 0.77 percent, to end at 5,747.70 points.
The losses in the market on Monday represent a two-month low for the index, after the steep fall in the major banks currently facing heightened regulatory pressures from the Australian government.
There were still some winners today, with Sydney Airport picking up 2.34 percent, while telco Vocus also gained some major ground, up 1.36 percent.
But, there were also some big downswings in Monday's action, with worldwide pizza chain Domino's dropping off a huge 3.83 percent, second-tier Bank of Queensland lost 2.49 percent, and private health company Medibank Private took a 2.14 percent loss.
In the banking majors, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 1.56 percent, Westpac also struggled, down 1.32 percent, the ANZ fell 1.88 percent, while the National Australia Bank also slipped, down 1.55 percent.
In mining, and the drop in the iron ore price saw BHP finish the day down 0.71 percent, Rio Tinto also dipped, down 1.52 percent, Fortescue took a large hit, down 3.09 percent, while Newcrest nearly managed to buck the trend, posting a small 0.24 percent loss.
The oil and gas majors also fared poorly as crude oil prices fell, with Woodside Petroleum down 0.85 percent, Oil Search also lost 1.23 percent, while Santos slipped 1.44 percent.
Grocery giant Woolworths couldn't post a profit, down 0.65 percent, while rivals Wesfarmers did slightly better, but were still down 0.16 percent.
Telco giant Telstra were down 0.89 percent, airline Qantas soared, up 0.81 percent, while bio-tech firm CSL shone in trade on Monday, up 0.60 percent.
At 1630 local time AEST, one Australian dollar is buying 74.32 U.S. cents, gold is currently 1,266 U.S. dollars per ounce, while crude oil is trading at 49.71 U.S. dollars per barrel.
