Shares of technology players suffered heavy losses on tracking drop in U.S. peers, with logistics software maker WiseTech Global down as much as 8%, while consumer lender Afterpay Touch Group shed as much as 5%.
Shares of materials and resources were lower on tracking weakness in base metal prices. Copper prices slipped following as China reported a second month of production deflation, pointing to weakening demand for industrial goods.
Gold stocks continued to fall as bolstered appetites for riskier assets weighed down demand for the precious metal's prices to a four-week low. Diversified miner South32 fell 1.6%, while gold miner OceanGold Corp dropped as much as 5.4% to its lowest in over two weeks.
Bucking the trend, energy stocks were boosted by a rise in oil prices amid optimism that Opec and other countries may agree to extend production cuts in a bid to support prices. Major oil and gas players Santos and Oil Search both rose more than 3%.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia NAB Business Confidence Deteriorates In August -- Australia's business confidence index fell to +1 from +4 in July, survey results from the National Australia Bank showed Tuesday. Likewise, the business conditions index declined to +1 from +3 a month ago. Business confidence and other forward looking indicators suggest there is unlikely to be an imminent turnaround in business conditions, NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster said.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar declined against greenback on Tuesday. The Australian dollar, sensitive to shifts in broader risk appetite, changed hands at $0.6865 after rising from levels below $0.672 last week.
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