The S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.1% to 5263 points.

Every major sector posted in the red, with basic materials down 1.5% on the session.

Rio Tinto closed 0.9% lower at $A64.67 and BHP Billiton shed a further 1.6% to $37.04 on the heels of yesterday’s positive but uninspiring production report.



Other heavyweights experiencing declines included Fortescue Metals Group, down 2.1% to $5.24, and Newcrest Mining, down 2.2% to $9.13, despite a robust December quarterly report marking major operational cost reductions.

Other gold players weighed heavily on the mining space, with St Barbara and Millennium Minerals both posting substantial falls after announcing quarterly results.

Nagambie Mining and Golden Deeps were also standout losers, down 16.1% to 4.7c and 29.2% to 1.7c respectively.

By contrast, WCP Resources marked a 14.3% gain to 4c after announcing encouraging drilling results at its Al Hariqah gold project in Yemen.

Overall malaise has been broadly attributed to an unexpected dip in Chinese manufacturing data, with Bloomberg reporting that the fall in the purchasing managers’ index implied a softening in growth momentum.

“People are worrying about China’s credit crunch and slowdown and they will take any slice of negative news on slow growth as a reason to sell,” IG Investment portfolio manager Benjamin Tam was quoted as saying.

Iron ore companies, however, managed a stable performance on the news and posted some noteworthy gains, with Centrex Metals and Eastern Iron both rising more than 15%.

Tawana Resources, meanwhile, gained 19.3% to 3.7c on continued momentum from recent metallurgical testwork at its Mofe Creek project in Liberia.

Other positive moves came courtesy of Carbine Resources (up 23.5% to 4.2c), Gascoyne Resources (up 17.9% to 16.5c) and uranium company Bannerman Resources, which built on a string of big gains with a 19.7% lift to 7.9c.