ASX Today Live News & Analysis

The Australian share market has recorded its biggest slip at the end of trading since the start of August, hampered by a steep fall in health stocks.

The S&P/ASX200 was down 63.1 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8,896.2, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 59.7 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 9,173.8.

Tuesday's close marked the steepest drop since August 1, when stocks fell by 0.92 per cent, and after four record-breaking closes last week into this week.

Local boards were initially led by muted results in overseas markets at the start of trade, Ord Minnett senior private wealth adviser David Lane said.

"Today, the volatility was on individual stocks - reactions to company reports as they've come through," he told AAP.

It was a mixed trading session with four of 11 local sectors closing out the day in the red, led by healthcare, while telecommunications was the highest-performing sector.

Healthcare stocks led the stumble, dropping<b> </b>8.37 per cent<b> </b>after biotech giant CSL's share price plummeted 16.04 per cent to $227.79 per share on the announcement up to 3000 jobs will be cut and its vaccine arm spun off in a bid to shave $500 million off its bottom line.

Mr Lane said despite the company's reasonably good period over the past few months, the headline grabber was its announcement.

"It pretty much finished on its lows and the result itself actually looked quite good,'' he said.

"It was ahead of expectations ... and it looked like the result itself was ahead of consensus forecasts."

Mining giant BHP recorded a 1.57 per cent share increase after posting a $US9 billion ($A13.9 billion) full-year net profit even though that was weighed down by weak commodity prices.

But that didn't stop it from buoying the materials sector, which recorded a 0.34 per cent lift at the close.

Energy was the second biggest loser, falling 2.2 per cent, with Woodside, Santos and Whitehaven Coal posting declines.

Woodside boss Meg O'Neill expressed frustration over the federal government's tardiness to sign off on its North West Shelf project.

She suggested lengthy approval processes led to a drag on productivity as the company posted a profit drop for the first half of the year, down to weaker commodity prices and other factors despite a major boost in production.

Telecommunications services led the gains, posting a 0.72 per cent increase on the back of job-finding service Seek which recorded a 7.99 per cent share price increase following an increase in revenue.

IT stocks rose by 0.57 per cent at the close buoyed by software firm Xero and Life360.

The heavyweight financial sector finished trading in the green with all four big banks recording increases, led by NAB.

The Australian dollar ended the day buying<b> </b>64.91 US cents, down from 65.13 US cents on Monday's close.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 fell 63.1 points on Tuesday, or 0.7 per cent, to 8,896.2

The broader All Ordinaries lost 59.7 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 9,173.8

The NZX 50 Lost -41.96 points (-0.32%) to 12,928.68 while the Nikkei dropped -168.02 points (-0.39%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 43,546.29

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Computershare Limited

QBE Insurance Group Limited

Suncorp Group Limited