Australian shares slip as Nick Scali drops 15 per cent after a profit warning and miners fall

The ASX 200 lost 0.43 per cent on Thursday. BHP fell on the day of its annual meeting.

Confirmed

The Australian share market fell on Thursday. The main index, the S&P/ASX 200, dropped 38.1 points. That is a fall of 0.43 per cent, leaving it at 8793.2, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported. The biggest drop came from furniture seller Nick Scali. Its shares fell about 15 per cent, Market Index reported. The company had warned that its profit for the first half of the year would be weaker. Miners also had a bad day. The price of copper fell to its lowest level in five weeks. That dragged down mining giant BHP, which fell 2.4 per cent to $57.13, AAP reported. BHP's leaders were meeting shareholders at its annual meeting on the same day. Iron ore miner Fortescue fell more than 4 per cent. It is in a long dispute with a big iron ore buyer backed by China's government. Energy shares fell about 2.4 per cent. The Australian dollar finished at 70.12 US cents. It is not yet known exactly how much profit Nick Scali expects, or how shareholders voted at BHP's meeting.