Sydney - Tuesday - October 4: (RWE Aust Business News) - The Australian sharemarket slipped lower in early trading this morning in response to another sell-off on Wall Street overnight which saw the Dow retreat 258 points.
After 45 minutes of trading the ASX 200 index was down 32.5 points at 3864.5 and the All Ordinaries index had lost 33.5 points to 3927.2.
The December SPI200 futures contract declined 16 points to 3872.
BHP Billiton fell 24c to $33.91, Rio Tinto shed 28c to $59.02 and Fortescue Metals was 7c lower at $4.02 but Alumina rose 2c to $1.42 and Newcrest gained 59c to $34.15.
Banks weighed on the market with National fell 24c to $21.39, Commonwealth shed 33c to $43.55, ANZ eased 5c to $18.89 and Westpac was down 18c at $19.32.
Macquarie Group slid 56c to $20.88, IAG edged up 1c to $2.94, Westfield Group shed 7c to $7.55, Macarthur Coal put on 2c to $15.87, Bluescope Steel fell 1c to 68.5c, Sims Metal gained 9c to $11.74, James Hardie declined 9c to $5.46, Amcor was 10c behind at $6.68, Telstra rose 1c to $3.05, Fairfax Media dropped 2c to 79.5c, Aristocrat Leisure lost 3.5c to $1.975, Flight Centre edged up 2c to $16.27, Wesfarmers gave back 41c to $30.40, Leighton fell 26c to $18.02, Asciano improved 2.5c to $1.385, Woolworths dipped 5c to $24.45, David Jones - ex 15c - lost 18c to $2.85, CSL retreated 86c to $29.17, Woodside Petroleum fell 28c to $31.34 and AGL Energy lost 20c to $13.92.
In New Zealand the NZX 50 index was down 14.8 points at 3301.
Gold is worth $US1,665.80 oz and the Australian dollar is changing hands at US95.22c
