Australian shares dip as Westpac weighs on banks before RBA

Australia is a country with a big stock market where people buy and sell small pieces of companies, called shares.

On Monday, the value of many shares went down a little bit.

One of Australia's big banks, Westpac, told investors that its business is slowing down.

Fewer people asked the bank for home loans, and the bank thinks its housing loans will grow half as much next year.

Because of that, Westpac's shares dropped a lot, and other banks dropped too.

But some other companies did well, especially the ones that dig metals and gold out of the ground.

A big wine company called Treasury Wine Estates also shared good news, so its shares went up.

The small dip came after the market gained 3.2% last week.

On Tuesday, Australia's central bank, called the RBA, will decide whether to change interest rates.

Most people expect it to keep rates the same.