Markets Live: Metals' mini meltdown

The sharemarket has ended sharply lower, pulled down by steep losses in the big miners following a plunge in metals prices.

The ASX fell 0.8 per cent to 5739, its fourth day in the red out of the past five sessions which adds up to a weekly loss of 1.15 per cent.

Falls in commodity prices continued during the session, with Chinese iron ore future dropping as much as 5 per cent.

Apart from falling commodity prices, lingering uncertainty around the Trump administration's tax plans have soured investor mood a little. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's statement overnight that fiscal stimulus effects on the economy this year may be limited didn't help.

"While shares have generally continued to push higher they remain at risk of a short term correction being technically overbought again and with short term investor sentiment at levels often associated with corrections," says AMP Capital head of investment strategy Shane Oliver. "A major misstep on economic issues by Trump, worries about Eurozone politics, policy tightening in China or signs of faster Fed rate hikes could all be a trigger."

On a weekly basis, the highly capitalised materials sector proved the biggest drag on the index. The sector was down 4.1 per cent over the week.

Today, a 3 per cent fall in copper prices - the biggest one-day fall since September 2015 - helped push the miners lower - BHP fell 3.0 per cent, while Rio Tinto shed 4.2 per cent. Pure-play copper miners Oz Minerals and Sandfire Resources were 1.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent lower respectively.

The week's biggest losers all declined on the back of disappointing earnings results. Isentia lost 40.8 per cent after flagging turbulence in its content marketing division. Ardent Leisure lost a quarter of its value - down 24.7 per cent. WorleyParsons shed 19.5 per cent, while Sky Network Television was 14.0 per cent lower. Vitamin company Blackmores also fell heavily, down 12.8 per cent.

On the other end of the spectrum, Asaleo Care soared 21.1 per cent. NextDC was up 17.9 per cent after posting a 39 per cent profit jump on Friday, and McMillian Shakespeare added 12.6 per cent.