A sharp drop by AMP has contributed to a third straight day of falls for the share market and capped its worst week in four months.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.2 per cent on Friday, and fell 2.7 per cent over the week, its largest weekly decline since mid-June.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the pressure on the Australian market appeared to be coming from a big international institutional investor.
“A big international holder seems to be selling off for whatever reason,” he said.
The worst performer on Friday was wealth manager AMP, which fell 47 cents, or 9.1 per cent, to $4.68, its lowest level since February 2014, after it announced a $668 million impairment due to “constant deterioration” in the insurance market.
Among the banks, ANZ dropped 48 cents to $27.62 as it said it will book charges totalling $360 million in its 2016/17 results related to restructuring and changes to valuing derivatives.
Westpac shed 16 cents to $30.24 and Commonwealth Bank dropped 24 cents to $72.75, but National Australia Bank, rose 32 cents to $27.91, a day after its better than expected full year earnings report.
Macquarie Group gained $1.36 to $81.76 as it forecast a similar full year profit to the previous year’s record $2.06 billion.
BHP Billiton gained 43 cents to $22.98, Rio Tinto added 45 cents to $53.75 and Fortescue Metals was 17 cents higher at $5.51.
The energy sector was also stronger, with Oil Search adding 18 cents to $6.79, Woodside gained 38 cents to $28.32 and Origin Energy was eight cents higher at $5.38.
Woolworths retreated 57 cents to $24.23 despite its underlying food sales growing for the first time in almost two years.
Casino operator Star Entertainment lifted 12 cents to $5.00 despite its chief executive saying the recent detention Crown Resorts staff in China has caused some uncertainty and cast doubt over future revenue.
KEY FACTS:
* At 1615 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 11.7 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,283.8 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 7.5 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 5,370.9 points.
* The December share price index futures contract was up two points at 5,255 points, with 37,990 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.8 billion securities traded, worth $6.99 billion.
