Close Australian shares have ended minimally higher, as early gains in banks and miners on the back of positive leads from Wall Street led to profit taking.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose was up 3.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4655.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 3.9 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4727.1.
Among the sectors, financials added 0.1 per cent, buoyed by a strong quarterly profit by Citigroup overnight. Materials ended flat, while energy shares gained 0.5 per cent.
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"The market has been holding around this 4,650 level pretty well but in certain areas, like the mid-cap resource stocks, people are looking for some excuse to take money off the table as they are sitting on substantial profits," said Burrell & Co dealer Daniel Manley.
Wall Street closed higher on upbeat news for banks and home builders, with the broad-based Standard & Poor’s 500 index finishing up 0.7 per cent.
Banks mixed after RBA minutes
Local banks ended mixed, as investors digested the minutes of the Reserve Bank's last board meeting when it left rates on hold.
ANZ rose 15 cents to 23.73 and Westpac was 10 cents higher at $22.73, Commonwealth Bank was steady at $50.65 and National Australia Bank was down 3 cents at $25.29.
Steady rates will help encourage borrowing, and thus boost banks' business, but on the flipside the banks are also waiting for an opportunity to hike interest rates to recoup higher funding costs, Mr Manley said.
Takeover target fund manager Perpetual gave back some of Monday's gains, losing 2.7 per cent to $36.80. Its board is considering a surprise $US1.7 billion bid by private equity firm KKR.
The major miners were mixed. BHP Billiton closed down 2 cents at $41.12, while Rio was down 38 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $82.60. Fortescue Metals was up 5 cents at $6.36.
China is scheduled to release important economic data on Thursday including gross domestic product for the September quarter.
OZ can't hold on to gains
Shares in Oz Minerals lost early gains of 3 per cent, ending down 0.3 per cent at $1.59. The miner reported a dip in quarterly production but analysts said expectations were for supply constraints to keep copper prices high through 2011.
Civil engineering consultant Cardno flagged a lift in first half profit following a strong contribution from acquisitions. Cardno closed up 30 cents, or 6.8 per cent, at $4.71.
Ansell confirmed its earnings guidance for 2010-11 and said it has good sales momentum in the first three months of the new financial year. Shares in the gloves and condoms maker finished 2 cents lower at $13.47.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining closed down 43 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $40.50.
The most traded stock by volume was Continental Coal, with 499.8 million shares worth $39.36 million changing hands. Continental Coal closed up 0.2 cents, or 2.6 per cent, at 7.9 cents after the coal explorer said it had completed $61 million in funding agreements to fast-track the development of its third operation in South Africa.
Preliminary market turnover was 3.064 billion securities worth $5.99 billion, with 591 stocks up, 540 down and 382 unchanged.
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AAP, with BusinessDay