Resources take the shine off overseas leads
Official figures released on Wednesday showed that Australia's trade deficit had narrowed to $178 million in February, coming in under economists' forecasts of $1 billion.
But new home sales tumbled 5.3 per cent in February, snapping a four-month run of increases.
Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the Australian market had ignored positive leads from US and European markets, but there was no particular factor dragging down the local sharemarket.
"You can't attribute it [the fall] to what's been going on offshore, so it looks like there's something that's domestically impacting the market," he said.
"But there's nothing particularly obvious. Perhaps it's the overhang from the Reserve Bank not cutting interest rates yesterday [Tuesday]."
Mr Heffernan said the resources sector had performed poorly, pulled back by lower commodity prices.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton fell 49¢ to $32.23 and Rio Tinto reversed $1.12 to $55.38.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was off 23¢ at $35.77.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said any delays by Woodside and its partners on a final investment decision on the $40 billion Browse gas project could set the project back many years.
Coal seam gas miner Metgasco dipped 0.6¢ to a record low at 6¢ after it said it had been asked to consider gas projects outside NSW.
Among the major banks, ANZ backtracked 55¢ to $28.27 after it announced its head of international and institutional banking Alex Thursby resigned to take up a new job in the Middle East.
NAB jumped 16¢ to $31.11, Westpac climbed 13¢ to $31.15 and Commonwealth Bank sagged 50¢ to $68.45.
At the close on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index was down 27.8 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 4957.7 points.
The broader All Ordinaries Index was down 29.1 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 4966.4 points.
The price of gold in Sydney closed at $US1567.85 per fine ounce, down $US33.81 from $US1601.66 on Tuesday.
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The Australian sharemarket closed roughly 0.6% lower amid mixed domestic economic data. Positive leads from the US and Europe were largely ignored, and commentators pointed to a lack of a single obvious driver — possible factors included the Reserve Bank not cutting interest rates and weakness in the resources sector driven by lower commodity prices.
Two key pieces of data were released: Australia's trade deficit narrowed to $178 million in February (below economists' $1 billion forecast), but new home sales plunged 5.3% in February, ending a four-month run of gains. Those mixed signals helped shape market moves.
The resources sector performed poorly on lower commodity prices. Global miner BHP Billiton fell 49c to $32.23, while Rio Tinto reversed $1.12 to $55.38 according to the market report.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was down 23c at $35.77. West Australian Premier Colin Barnett warned that any delays by Woodside and its partners on a final investment decision for the $40 billion Browse gas project could set the project back many years.
Coal seam gas miner Metgasco dipped 0.6c to a record low of 6c after saying it had been asked to consider gas projects outside New South Wales.
There was mixed performance among the big banks: ANZ backtracked 55c to $28.27 after its head of international and institutional banking, Alex Thursby, resigned to take a job in the Middle East. NAB rose 16c to $31.11, Westpac climbed 13c to $31.15, and Commonwealth Bank fell 50c to $68.45.
At the close, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 27.8 points, or 0.56%, at 4,957.7 points. The broader All Ordinaries Index fell 29.1 points, or 0.58%, to 4,966.4 points.
The price of gold in Sydney closed at US$1,567.85 per fine ounce, down US$33.81 from US$1,601.66 on Tuesday, reflecting a notable single-day decline in the local gold price.
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