Australian Shares Dip on Lower Commodity Prices

0617 GMT [Dow Jones] Australian shares surrendered some of its recent recovery as a fall in commodity prices weighed on energy and mining shares. Leads for the market were mixed after European shares faltered and Wall Street equities ended little changed overnight. Traders also said that investors were cautious ahead of central bank meetings this week in the U.S. and Japan. The ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 5452.6, its second decline in the last 11 trading sessions. "Energy stocks are the whipping boys today, with Woodside, Origin Energy and Oil Search all following the price of oil sharply lower," William Leys, a sales trader at CMC Markets, said. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) lost 1.5%, Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG.AU) fell 1.6% and Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) fell 1.9%. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) lost 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Smaller miner BC Iron Ltd. (BCI.AU) tumbled 14% after lowering its full-year iron-ore sales target because it had found too much clay with the rocks it was digging up. National Australia Bank Ltd.(NAB.AU), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU) each added 0.2% while Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) climbed 1%. ([e-mail]; Twitter: @RobbMStewart)

 
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