Australian shares ended a lacklustre day of trading lower, but are up for the week.
At the close of trade, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index was down 0.3%, or 10.9 points, at 3769.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 0.2%, or 6.8 points, at 3737.9.
The market traded within a narrow band of 30 points during the day. For the week, the benchmark index is up 1.5%.
Most sub-indexes were lower. Financials was down 0.4%, energy was up 0.4% and materials was down 0.3%.
The Australian dollar was recently buying 72.89 US cents, down from yesterday's local close of 73.36 US cents. It was also buying 72.13 yen, 54.93 euro cents, 49.26 pence and $NZ1.285.
On overseas markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1.7% at 8977.371 and Dow futures were down 3 points at 8123.
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In the news today, Macquarie Group announced a 52% fall in profit. The investment bank's shares are in a trading halt as the bank works on a capital raising.
Macquarie's satellites were holding up well. Macquarie Airports was up 1.5 cents, or 0.8%, at $1.825, Macquarie Communications added 4 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.29, Macquarie Media was up 10.5 cents, or 8.5%, at $1.345, Macquarie Office Trust was flat at 19.5 cents and Macquarie Countrywide Trust was up 1 cent, or 3.2%, at 32.5 cents.
"The market definitely lacked the conviction it had the past few days," said David Taylor, market analyst at CMC Markets.
"Today's market movements give you a sense that money is sitting on the sidelines and we saw a shift into the more defensive sectors like health-care, consumer staples and telcos."
He said there was overall weakness in banking and finance stocks, as well as the mining sector.
"Some stocks in the finance sector were negatively impacted by the Macquarie Group profit announcement. The full-year result was slightly below forecast and left the market wanting," Mr Taylor said.
On the other hand, he said, "We've had some encouraging signs this week: Chinese factory growth, Japanese industrial output and US consumer spending. It now appears that green shoots are definitely more of a reality than just wishful thinking."
"It's a reasonably big week next week with an interest rate decision, important local economic data due out, as well as the results of the US bank stress tests. I imagine the market will continue to tread cautiously," he said.
Banks mixed
The banks were mixed. Westpac was down 25 cents, or 1.3%, at $18.95 and NAB added 13 cents, or 0.6%, to $20.76.
The Commonwealth Bank fell 6 cents, or 0.2%, to $35.05 and ANZ was up 10 cents, or 0.6%, at $16.00.
Elsewhere in the financials sector, Suncorp Metway was down 27 cents, or 4.6%, at $5.63, AXA Asia Pacific was up 2 cents, or 0.5%, at $3.92 and AMP was down 7 cents, or 1.4%, at $5.12.
QBE Insurance was down 15 cents, or 0.7%, at $21.64 and IAG was up 2 cents, or 0.6%, at $3.49.
BHP, Rio down
The big miners were lower. BHP Billiton was down 27 cents, or 0.8%, at $33.00 and Rio Tinto lost 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $64.18.
Fortescue Metals Group was down 2 cents, or 0.8%, at $2.34 and OZ Minerals was up 3 cents, or 4%, at 78 cents. BlueScope Steel was up 2 cents, or 0.9%, at $2.36.
Spot gold was down $US2.97 at $US885.21 an ounce in recent trade.
Newcrest was up 11 cents, or 0.4%, at $30.05, Lihir Gold was down 6 cents, or 2%, at $2.94 and Newmont was down 10 cents, or 1.8%, at $5.50.
Nymex crude oil futures were down 24 US cents at $US50.88 a barrel in recent trade.
Woodside Petroleum rose 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $38.42, Santos lost 13 cents, or 0.8%, to $16.29 and Oil Search was flat at $5.13.
Origin Energy was up 11 cents, or 0.7%, at $16.40 and AGL gained 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $15.15. Macarthur Coal was up 8 cents, or 1.9%, at $4.32.
Retailers lower
Diversified company Wesfarmers, which owns coal mines and Coles supermarkets, was up 6 cents, or 0.3%, at $22.70 and rival retailer Woolworths was down 30 cents, or 1.1%, at $26.42.
David Jones was down 2 cents, or 0.7%, at $3.01, Harvey Norman was down 2 cents, or 0.7%, at $2.96 and JB Hi Fi lost 40 cents, or 2.9%, to $13.24.
Shopping centre operator Westfield was down 20 cents, or 1.9%, at $10.53 and Lend Lease was down 8 cents, or 1.1%, at $7.14.
Beverage maker Coca-Cola Amatil was down 11 cents, or 1.2%, at $9.03 and Foster's Group lost 9 cents, or 1.7%, to $5.18. Goodman Group was up 3 cents, or 8.1%, at 40 cents.
Among the airlines, Qantas was up 7 cents, or 3.5%, at $2.05 and Virgin Blue was flat at 28.5 cents.
Media stocks were moslty lower. News Corp lost 16 cents, or 1.2%, to $12.59 and Fairfax Media lost 3.5 cents, or 3%, to $1.15.
Seven Network was up 1 cent at $6.29 and Ten Network was down 2 cents, or 2.1%, at 95 cents.
Telstra rises
The telecoms sub-index was up 0.03%. Telstra was up 3 cents, or 0.9%, at $3.36 and SingTel, which owns Optus, was up 6 cents, or 2.5%, at $2.44.
The health sub-index was up 0.2%, with CSL losing 1 cent to $34.41, Primary Health up 13 cents, or 3%, at $4.49 and ResMed falling 3 cents, or 0.6%, to $5.37.
Gaming company Crown was down 7 cents, or 1%, at $6.82 and Tabcorp was also down 7 cents, or 1%, at $7.38.
The information technology sub-index was down 0.6%. ComputerShare lost 9 cents, or 1%, to $9.05.
