October 10, 2009 Article from: Australian Associated Press
THE Australian sharemarket closed slightly lower as investors took profits amid nervousness about the strength of companies reporting their financial results in the US.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 15.7 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 4752.9, and the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 8.8 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 4754.5.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index futures contract reversed 23 points to 4749, on a volume of 27,232 contracts.
RBS Morgans private client adviser Trent Muller said local trading yesterday was subdued.
"The weakness probably has got more to do with nervousness associated with the reporting season in the US and being prepared for some disappointment if it does happen -- that's why we've underperformed," Mr Muller said.
Mr Muller said the performance of stocks across the board was mixed: for example, some of the banks and resources stocks were up but others in those sectors were down.
Stocks that did well yesterday included importers that were benefiting from the higher Australian dollar.
Stocks performing poorly were those highly leveraged to earnings in the US.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton fell 31c to $37.85 while Rio Tinto rose 20c to $61.50.
Junior iron ore explorer United Minerals was suspended from trading, amid speculation BHP Billiton might be set to seek control of the company. United last traded at 91c.
Polaris Metals hovered at 62c after the company's board was unable to decide which of two takeover bids for the iron ore explorer was superior.
Nickel producer Minara Resources was up 5.5c at $1 after it said it was cautious about prices for the commodity.
In the gold sector, Lihir dipped 4c to $3.13 and Newmont backtracked 7c to $5.18 while Newcrest strengthened 56c to $35.72.
The price of gold in Sydney was $US1046.50 per fine ounce, down $US9.13 on Thursday's close.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank added 25c to $31.60 and Commonwealth Bank was up 19c at $53.16. Westpac surrendered 18c to $26.12 and ANZ eased 12c to $24.62.
Elsewhere in the financial services sector, Australia's biggest annuities provider, Challenger Financial Services Group, firmed 15c to $3.58 after saying it had put in place the structure, and that it had the money, to grow existing businesses and buy new ones amid the economic recovery.
Telstra was 7c lower at $3.16 after the telco said the federal government's "unnecessary" proposed regulatory changes would destroy shareholder value. Telstra is urging significant amendments.
Among media stocks, News Corporation nudged up 1c to $15.52, as did its non-voting stock to $13.39. Consolidated Media improved 5c to $3.05 and Fairfax Media found 3c at $1.715.
Woolworths lost 38c to $28.85, and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, fell 10c to $26.30.
Among other stocks, product marketing business GUD Holdings was down 14c at $8.48 after it made a takeover offer for Breville Group to create a major Australasian small appliances business.
Property developer Lend Lease Corp slipped 3c to $10.51 after it and its joint venture partner completed the sale of London's O2 arena.
The top-traded stock by volume was microdot technology firm DataDot Technology, with 160.78 million shares worth $11.36 million changing hands. DataDot was 3.1c higher at 8.2c.
National turnover was 2.9 billion shares worth $6.39 billion, with 629 stocks up, 474 down and 348 unchanged.
