News: XEJ Australia shares lower after Italy rejects reform in referendum; NZ down

Australian shares fell on Monday, dragged down by financials, while investors assessed the impact on markets impact from Italy's vote against constitutional reform.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign after conceding defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform which exit polls and early projections showed he would lose by a wide margin.

Investors and Europe's politicians fear victory for the opposition 'No' camp could cause political instability and renewed turmoil for Italy's banks, pushing the euro zone towards a fresh crisis.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) fell 0.9 percent, or 47 points, to 5,397 by 0036 GMT. The benchmark lost 1.16 percent last week.

"While our markets had been anticipating better chances of a 'No' vote than a 'Yes' vote, the Italian referendum gave investors a reason for a sell-off after a strong run-up from the Trump election," said James McGlew, executive director of corporate stock-broking at Argonaut.

"The situation in Italy reinforces just how splintered the EU is at the moment. The risk there is on currencies."

The Reserve Bank of Australia holds its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday. A Reuters poll showed investors expect the central bank to keep its cash rate unchanged.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 financial index .SPSY ended down 1 percent on Friday as the worst-performing sector among 11 major S&P sectors. The index has risen 13.1 percent since the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Australia's benchmark financial index .AXFJ. which has gained nearly 10 percent since Nov. 8, was down over 1.2 percent in thin trade, the biggest drag on the overall index. All of the "Big Four" banks dropped by more than 1 percent.

Energy stocks also showed some losses, with the benchmark index .AXEJ falling 1.3 percent, led by Woodside Petroleum (WPL) which slid nearly 2 percent.

At the other end, DUET Group (DUE) soared as much as 20 percent to top an eight-year high after Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure <1038.HK> made a A$7.3 billion ($5.4 billion) approach for the company.

DUET's gains rippled across the utilities sector, with Spark Infrastructure Group (SkI) climbing 4.6 percent to a 1-month high.

Gold stocks gains with Newcrest Mining (NCM) rising 0.4 percent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) slipped 0.3 percent, or 19.58 points to 6,885.27, weighed down by healthcare and consumer stocks.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp (FPH) fell as much as 3 percent, while Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (SKC) slid 3.3 percent.