AUSTRALIAN shares fell on Monday (Aug 17) as a slew of weaker earnings, including those of NAB and JB Hi-Fi, overshadowed gains in miners and energy stocks, while no interim peace deal emerged between the US and Iran.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3 per cent to 9,084.10 by 0053 GMT. The benchmark slipped 1.6 per cent last week. The third week of the earnings season kicked off with National Australia Bank tanking as much as 4.8 per cent, after the lender logged a 15 per cent decline in third-quarter Australian home loan applications compared with the second quarter.

That hurt banking stocks which fell 1 per cent, with the ‘Big Four’ banks trading in the red except Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which stayed flat.

NAB closes an August reporting season for Australia’s major banks overshadowed by mounting concern that the repeal of lucrative property-investment tax breaks could hit earnings and credit growth.

Bucking the trend, miners rose as much as 1.5 per cent, after iron ore prices gained on Friday.

Gold stocks climbed 2.4 per cent, after bullion prices were headed for a weekly gain.

Gold miners Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources gained as much as 2.1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

Energy stocks joined the rally and surged 1 per cent, as crude oil futures climbed over US$1 a barrel on Friday.

Risk appetite faltered as peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with no signs of a deal being brokered.

Shares of JB Hi-Fi were on track for its worst session since late March 2020, after the electronics retailer’s total sales at its Australian business fell 0.5 per cent in the first month of fiscal 2027.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.1 per cent to 13,837. Dairy producer a2 Milk sank as much as 10.2 per cent after it logged a 44 per cent drop in its full-year profit. REUTERS