Australian shares closed lower on Wednesday, snapping four straight sessions of gains, on a broad sell-off led by heavy weight banks and mining stocks.
Market sentiment was dampened by a big fall on Wall Street where concerns about a Greek debt default and higher US interest rates unsettled investors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.8 per cent or 48.1 points to 5,725.3.
National Australia Bank shed 1.3 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.6 per cent. Among the miners, Rio Tinto was down 1.7 per cent.
New Zealand’s benchmark NZX 50 index lost 0.7 per cent or 37.9 points to finish the session at 5,757.9.
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