Shares hit by Wall Street wobbles
DOMESTIC shares fell for a second straight day amid weak overseas leads, and retail stocks continued to bleed.
DOMESTIC shares fell for a second straight day amid weak overseas leads, and retail stocks continued to bleed.The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 17.2 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 4473.5 points, while the All Ordinaries Index slipped 18.6 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 4542.7 points.The local market opened weaker after a poor night on Wall Street and extended losses throughout the day amid broad-based declines."Once again the Australian market continues to underperform, " an IG Markets analyst, Cameron Peacock, said in a research note."While today's lacklustre performance is quite typical for a Friday afternoon after a night of US losses, tonight's European and US sessions will be key for sentiment heading into next week." .The worst-performing sector was information technology stocks, which fell 1.54 per cent, according to Iress data.Consumer discretionary companies, which includes retailers such as David Jones, Myer and Harvey Norman, were down 0.86 per cent.David Jones's poor run in response to its earnings downgrade continued yesterday - the stock fell 5?, or 1.56 per cent, to $3.15. Myer was down 5?, or 2.02 per cent, at $2.43.News Corporation, also in the discretionary sector, fell 2.83 per cent, or 43?, to $14.77, as chief executive Rupert Murdoch said he would appear before the British Parliament over the phone-hacking scandal. News Corp non-voting stock slid 44?, or 2.98 per cent, to $14.32.BHP Billiton fell 71? to $42.89 and Fortescue 1? at $6.41, while Rio Tinto went against the tide, rising 41? to $81.36.Newcrest Mining was up 47? at $40.27, while Kingsgate Consolidated rose 27? to $8.60.Preliminary national turnover was 1.87 billion shares changing hands for $5.01 billion. Some 399 stocks rose, while 604 fell and 368 were unchanged.
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