News: PPT Australian shares slip as weak commodities weigh

April 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped on Tuesday, as investors tracked cues from a weak overnight session on Wall Street, while a drop in commodity prices also pulled down the resource-heavy bourse.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was down 0.42% at 7,453.7 points, as of 0105 GMT.

Energy stocks .AXEJ fell 1.1%, tracking an overnight drop in oil prices, as traders fret that the COVID-19 surge will cut demand in China and as International Energy Agency countries plan to release record volumes of oil from strategic stocks.

Sector heavyweights Woodside Petroleum (WPL) and Santos (STO) skidded 0.6% each.

Raw material prices also dropped as China's stringent curbs dented market sentiment and fuelled worries that the recovery momentum in the world's second-largest economy might lose steam.

Miners .AXMM shed 0.5% on the back of weaker iron ore prices, with giants such as Newcrest Mining (NST) and BHP (BHP) sinking 1.6% and 0.3%, respectively.

Bucking the sombre mood in the commodities sector, shares of Lynas Rare Earth (LYC) , the world's largest producer of rare-earths outside China, jumped more than 2% after posting record quarterly revenue as demand for specialized metals surged.

Financials .AXFJ lost 0.4%, weighed down by poor performances in the "Big Four" banks.

National Australia Bank (NAB) , Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) , Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) fell between 0.1% and 0.8%.

Shares of Pendal (PDL) shed 0.9% after the Australian investment manager said asset manager Perpetual's (PPT) A$2.40 billion takeover offer "significantly undervalued" it.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.2% to 11,903.9 points, ahead of the country's central bank rate decision on Wednesday.

New Zealand's central bank will likely opt for a modest 25 basis point interest rate hike, but is set to raise by slightly more this year as a whole than previously thought, a Reuters poll of economists found.