The Australian stock market reversed early gains to shed three quarters of a per cent on Monday, as skittish sentiment triggered a broad-based sell-off. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 33.2 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 4,451.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 38.6 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 4,512.5.

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On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was 36 points lower at 4,443, with 33,719 contracts traded. The latest in a series of earnings downgrades by industrials, this time by Caltex Australia Ltd, didn't help to improve sentiment. Caltex downgraded its first half profit guidance to between $100 to $115 million, prompting its shares to lose 78 cents, or 6.85 per cent, to $10.60. It was the worst performer among the S&P top 100 companies on the ASX.

The major resource companies also fared poorly. BHP Billiton lost 59 cents, or 1.41 per cent, to $41.36, while Rio Tinto was down 52 cents, or 0.67 per cent, at $77.30. The major banks also sank in late trade. Commonwealth lost two cents to $49.50, Westpac was down nine cents at $21.12 and ANZ lost 10 cents to $21.24. NAB outperformed its peers to close up eight cents at $24.44. In other news, Chi-X Australia Pty Ltd has reached an agreement with the nation's main stock exchange operator, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), to provide clearing and settlement services. Preliminary national turnover was 2.3 billion shares worth $4.7 billion, with 331 stocks up, 875 down and 376 unchanged.

The Australian dollar pared back nearly all of a late Friday rally on Monday as concerns over China and Greece percolated across markets. The constant ebb and flow of Greece's unravelling debt situation appeared to improve as European finance ministers in Luxembourg moved towards approving a fresh quarterly installment of Greece's US$157 billion bailout loan. But as they remained divided over the details on several other points, the Australian dollar increasingly got hit as Asia trading wore on. Further adding to what had been strength in the Australian dollar in New York trading on Friday and early Asia action on Monday were increased China worries stemming from Credit Suisse cutting its China growth forecast and traders in Sydney saying some hedge funds were shorting Chinese-related shares. The Australian dollar was trading at $1.0529, flat with $1.0529 late Friday but off a morning high of $1.0619. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar was at 84.46, down from 85.175.

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