THE sharemarket is lower today, reversing an early rise, with banks hit by a big fall in domestic home sales and resources shares suffering from a steep fall in commodity prices.
New home sales fell 5.3 per cent in February, data from the Housing Industry Association showed. The data snapped four straight months of growth and raise fresh questions about whether more interest-rate cuts are needed.
On commodity markets, spot gold tumbled 1.5 per cent and spot iron ore declined 0.9 per cent. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange fell between 1 per cent and 2.9 per cent overnight.
At 1.55pm AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 0.9 per cent at 4940.3 after hitting a five-day high of 5011.9 in early trading.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's biggest home mortgage provider, fell 1.2 per cent.
"Home sales data have recently been looked at more closely as investors look for signs the economy is responding to lower interest rates," said Shane Oliver, director of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital. "They didn't get that today."
