Thanks afternoon crew. End-of-day summary: Dividend season and a...

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

Dividend season and a second day of heavy falls in iron ore helped drag the share market lower during a low-key session following a US long weekend.

The ASX 200 eased seven points or 0.08%. Bulk metal miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals sagged as benchmark ore prices in China this afternoon tilted towards a second-straight loss of more than 4% following soft Chinese factory data on the weekend.

Other drags included stocks trading ex-dividend, including Woolworths, Coles, Wesfarmers and Endeavour Group. Offsetting those falls were gains in the major banks, QBE and Telstra.

US futures trended modestly lower this afternoon ahead of the resumption of trade tonight after the Labor Day market holiday. S&P 500 futures were down 0.11%.