Day traders' after-market lounge August 14

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day wrap:

Aussie shares started the week with a solid loss as worries about Chinese demand for Australian raw materials helped drag the dollar to a nine-month low.

The ASX 200 dropped 63 points or 0.86% to its weakest close since mid-July. The setback came as the local dollar sank under 65 US cents.

The Aussie traded as low as 64.56 US cents as China's deepening real estate crisis pressured iron ore prices and sent the yuan to a 2023 low. Mainland and Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares slumped after Country Garden, once the nation's largest property developer, froze trade in its bonds, while a major asset manager missed payments due on several products.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 2.3%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.7%. In the US, S&P 500 futures declined 0.15%.

Australian investors already had their hands full as the domestic earnings season cranked into gear. The session brought well-received reports from Carsales.com and JB Hi-Fi and less happy news for shareholders in Beach Energy, Lendlease, Aurizon, Ansell, GPT Group and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank.