Close Australian shares pared weekly gains as miners and energy stocks posted losses on Friday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 21.9 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 4560.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 20.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 4600.7.
Among the major sectors, materials fell 0.7 per cent, energy shares dropped 1 per cent and financials slipped 0.2 per cent.
need2know:
- Europe shares fall 0.4% in early trade
- The dollar rises to 92.3 US cents
- Asian stocks gain on Japanese growth
- Gold falls to $US1245 an ounce
- Oil heads towards $US75
- Dow futures are 10 points up at 10,348
Miners, which have among the highest weight in the index, were largely weak as metal prices fell and investors awaited Chinese CPI data for direction. China is the biggest consumer of Australian minerals.
Beijing moved the release of the key economic data for August to Saturday from Monday, prompting speculation the numbers could trigger a strong reaction on financial markets, traders said.
IG Markets strategist Ben Potter said the market did not open as strongly as anticipated and did not react as bullishly as it could have to news that China’s trade surplus had unexpectedly shrunk.
‘‘Most of the damage has come from the energy and materials sectors, which were weaker throughout the day,’’ Mr Potter said. ‘‘Financials had some early gains, but they have given most of those up,’’ he said.
Among the financials National Australia Bank went into reverse after solid gains on Thursday and lost 17 cents to $24.67. ANZ lost 5 cents at $23.71, Westpac fell 4 cents at $22.94 and Macquarie Group declined 18 cents at $34.44 and Commonwealth Bank rose 18 cents at $52.67.
The materials sector finished the day more than half a per cent weaker, with market heavyweight BHP Billiton falling 22 cents to $37.96 and rival Rio Tinto gaining 35 cents to $74.25.
Gold major Newcrest finished the day 2.3 per cent, or 93 cents lower, at $38.84.
Next blow for Virgin
Virgin Blue was down nearly 7 per cent, or 3 cents, at 40 cents after the competition regulator rejected a proposed tie-up with Air New Zealand on trans-Tasman flights.
Air New Zealand closed down 3.5 cents at 98.5 cents.
Local mineral companies with exposure to Greenland had a good day after that nation’s government changed its exploration licence rules to include radioactive elements.
Greenland Minerals and Energy put on 23.5 cents or 64 per cent to 60 cents and Ram Resources jumped 32 per cent or 0.9 cents at 3.7 cents.
Energy stocks were weaker afater oil prices fell, with Woodside Petroleum off 39 cents at $42.53 and Oil Search down 5 cents at $5.91.
Gas specialist Santos closed down 60 cents, or 4.7 per cent, at $12.19, continuing its fall following the sale of part of its Gladstone LNG project to French giant Total on Thursday.
Origin Energy bucked the trend to rise 6 cents at $15.39.
Fairfax flags online charges
Media stocks were mixed. Fairfax Media, which announced that it will soon begin charging for some of its online news content, rose 0.5 cents to $1.505.
News Corp was down 7 cents at $16.20 and News Corp non-voting shares were up 3 cents at $14.48.
Supermarket operator Woolworths was 16 cents weaker and Coles owners Wesfarmers was off 21 cents at $33.37.
The top-traded stock by volume was Sundance Resources, with 70.67 million shares worth $14.33 million changing hands. Its shares dropped 2 cents, or 9.1 per cent, at 20 cents.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.95 billion shares worth $4.63 billion, with 538 stocks up, 531 down and 364 unchanged.
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AAP, with BusinessDay