Banking and mining stocks weakness has driven the Australian sharemarket lower following a slide on Wall Street and a fall in commodity prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around one per cent on the back of disappointing US retail figures and concerns about global growth.

Local stocks opened lower and remained down after data showed that Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 6.1 per cent in December, thanks to a surprise surge in full time jobs, and beating economists’ expectations.

IG Market analyst Chris Weston said Wall Street’s negative lead and headwinds for some of the major banks and resources companies had pushed the market lower.

“Mining stocks are continuing to see further falls, so this is a sector that is massively unloved,” Mr Weston said.

“If cash rates aren’t going to go down by as much as the market’s pricing in; it does act as a bit of a headwind for the banks.”

Copper prices slumped more than five per cent overnight to their lowest level since 2009.

BHP Billiton lost 31 cents to $26.89, Rio Tinto fell $1.32 to $54.21 and Fortescue Metals slid four cents to $2.30.

Australia’s large energy companies were weaker despite a rise in oil prices overnight.

Santos fell one cent to $7.35, while Oil Search dropped two cents to $7.18.

Woodside Petroleum was 60 cents lower at $34.94 after announcing a 10 per cent slide in revenue during the December quarter.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank fell 27 cents to $83.41, Westpac dropped 35 cents to $32.77, ANZ slipped 26 cents to $31.40 and National Australia Bank was 25 cents lower at $33.46.

Telstra was flat at $6.17.

KEY FACTS

* At 1200 AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 29 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 5,324.7 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 28.6 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 5,302.2 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was 30 points lower at 5,273 points, with 19,715 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 531 million securities worth $1.9 billion.