Shares flat as banks defy Wall Street

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This was published 13 years ago

Shares flat as banks defy Wall Street

Close The Australian sharemarket clawed back most of its early losses to close marginally lower in very quiet trade, after small rises in banking stocks capped falls in the mining sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index slipped 5.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4669.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index eased 5.2 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4717.

Among the sectors, financials were up 0.1 per cent, but materials lost 0.5 per cent and gold stocks fell 1.2 per cent.

need2know:
- Europe shares edge lower in early trade
- Asian shares follow Wall Street down
- The dollar slips below 96 US cents
- Gold slips to $US1291 an ounce
- Oil falls to $US76 a barrel
- Dow futures are 8 points lower at 10,742

    CMC Markets senior dealer Rob Mulcahy said falls on Wall Street flowed through locally but the losses weren't enough to damage sentiment.

    "The turnaround, ironically, happened in the banking space," he said. "Given the banks led Wall Street down, it was surprising to see them lift the local bourse fractionally into positive territory."

    ANZ was up 12 cents at $24.32, National Australia Bank had put on 14 cents to $26.14 and Westpac was 7 cents higher at $24.02 but Commonwealth Bank bucked the sector trend, closing 26 cents weaker at $52.60.

    Global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto recovered some earlier losses but still closed in the red. BHP Billiton was down 23 cents at $39.43, Rio Tinto had lost 15 cents to $77.00 and Alumina gave up 1.5 cents to $1.84, but Fortescue added 5 cents to $5.18.

    Nufarm profit slides

    Troubled farm-chemicals maker Nufarm fell 16 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $3.94 after reporting a 63 per cent slide in full-year profit before one-offs following a slump in sales.

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    ‘‘Significantly Nufarm did say it was starting to see some improvement and expected a better 2011, particularly in its Brazilian market,’’ CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said.

    Virgin Blue finished up 1.5 cents at 44.5 cents after the discount airline’s flight schedule returned to normal following Sunday’s check-in chaos.

    Ms Saly said some defensive stocks fared well, with Woolworths closing 33 cents higher at $29.70.

    Wesfarmers, which owns rival supermarket chain Coles, was down 53 cents at $34.20.

    Dart Energy soars

    Junior oil and gas explorer Apollo Gas has backed a $145 million scrip takeover offer from Dart Energy that is aimed at expanding the suitor’s coal seam gas business. Shares in Dart were up 5 cents, or 4.8 per cent, at $1.10 while shares Apollo soared 18 cents, or 29.5 per cent, to 79 cents.

    The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 100 index was Ten Network Holdings, which gained 5.5 cents, or 4.2 per cent, to $1.38 after almost 30 million shares in the broadcaster had changed hands.

    Aquarius Platinum was the worst performer in the same index, closing down 14 cents, or 2.5 per cent, at $5.54.

    Gold stocks took a breather from recent strong runs after the price of the precious metal pulled back from a record $US1300 per ounce overnight.

    Shares in Newcrest were down 32 cents at $39.38 while smaller gold miner Kingsgate had fallen 57 cents, or 4.8 per cent, to $11.43.

    Telstra was up 4 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $2.70.

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    Preliminary national turnover was 2.28 billion shares worth $3.93 billion, with 533 stocks up, 527 stocks down and 385 stocks unchanged.

    AAP, Reuters, with BusinessDay

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