2013.09.1304:27:21UTC+00Australia stocks slump, as gold miners sell off

A steep decline for gold prices overnight smacked precious-metals miners down Friday in Sydney, aiding send the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 down 0.4% to 5,221.10 in early actions. Benchmark Comex gold futures relinquished more than 2.4% on Thursday, while silver tumbled 4.4%, mauling the gold sector in Australia. Evolution Mining Ltd. plunged 6.2%, Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. tanked by 8%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd.  diminished 3.4%. The more diversified miners also took a hit, with BHP Billiton Ltd. recorded a 1.3% decrease, Rio Tinto Ltd. missing 1.5%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. moving 1.9% down. Outside the mining sector, retailer Myer Holdings Ltd. shed 4% of its value after agreeing to purchase the 35% of women's fashion label Sass & Bide that it doesn't already own for 30 million Australian dollars ($27.9 million) in cash.