The Australian share market has closed lower after disappointing jobs figures exacerbated investors’ gloom.
At 1615 AEST on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 28.5 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 4,068.0 points, and the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 29 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 4,106.0 points.
On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was down 26 points at 4,038 points, with 23,648 contracts traded, according to preliminary calculations.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday showed that total employment fell by 27,000 in June while the unemployment rate rose to 5.2 per cent, from 5.1 per cent in May.
Also, investor sentiment was dampened by the release of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes overnight, which disappointed traders hoping for an indication that another round of economic stimulus in the US was on the way.
City Index chief market analyst Peter Esho said the local market had fallen in the wake of the jobs figures and negative trading on stock markets around the region.
“I think the composition of the jobs report caught a few people off guard, so that was perhaps a dampener to sentiment,” Mr Esho said.
He said investors were now awaiting figures on China’s gross domestic product to be released on Friday.
Mr Esho said that despite widespread negative sentiment among investors, there were a lot of positive signs that had been overlooked.
The US Federal Reserve still had firepower to boost the US economy, but after already having moved aggressively, it had to keep some ammunition for the future.
Mr Esho also said that although people had been worried about a weakening Chinese economy, Chinese exports were still strong, and the upcoming GDP figures may not be as disastrous as some people think.
On the local market, in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was off 65 cents at $30.40, and Rio Tinto was $1.40 weaker at $54.25.
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources was 29 cents lower at $8.98 after it lifted its revenue in the first half of the year despite sales dropping by more than a third.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank was off 13 cents at $23.46, ANZ reversed 26 cents to $22.18, Commonwealth Bank eased nine cents to $53.51, and Westpac found five cents at $21.87.
In the retail sector, Myer declined 1.5 cents to $1.66 after the struggling department store chain said it would make 100 jobs redundant.
Among other stocks, telco Telstra slipped one cent to $3.85 after it said it was selling its New Zealand subsidiary TelstraClear to Vodafone for $NZ840 million ($A660 million).
Toll roads operator Transurban shares rose 15 cents to $5.83 after it said it had lifted its annual toll revenue by nearly six per cent.
Construction products company CSR lost three cents to $1.20 as it said the soft housing market and low aluminium prices may drag on its first half earnings.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.32 billion securities worth $3.65 billion, with 534 stocks down, 333 up and 336 unchanged.
