Banks, miner drag Australian shares lower

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Monday, dragged down by losses in heavyweight banks and miners, while technology stocks also declined in line with a sharp sell-off among its U.S. peers.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.4% to 8,939.7 points by 0107 GMT. It had ended Friday 0.1% lower.

The benchmark index marked its best August since 2009, gaining nearly 2.6% last month, as a wave of upbeat earnings propelled several stocks to record highs, driving broad-based gains across sectors.

Heavyweight miners fell 0.2% after an official survey showed that China's manufacturing activity shrank for a fifth straight month in August.

China is Australia's largest export market and a dwindling manufacturing sector points to weaker demand for raw materials used in industrial production.

Sector major BHP Group lost 1%, while iron ore miner Rio Tinto shed 1.2%.

Technology stocks dropped nearly 2%, tracking a major sell-offon Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq on Friday.

ASX-listed Xero retreated 2%, while WiseTech Global slipped 3%.

Continuing the trend, health stocks eased 0.2%. Energy firms dipped 0.6% on the back of lower oil prices. Woodside Energy was down 1%.

Rate-sensitive financials fell 0.2%, with three of the "Big Four" lenders losing between 0.2% and 0.6%. However, ANZ Group rose 0.2%.

Gold stocks advanced 3% to its highest since June 16 as bullion soared after U.S. inflation data reinforced hopes that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates this month.

In corporate news, RPMGlobal scaled a record peak after receiving a takeover offer from the world's largest construction company, Caterpillar, which valued the mining software firm at A$1.12 billion ($727.8 million).

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index traded largely flat at 12,935 points. ($1 = A$1.5389) (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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