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Aussie share market falls in broad sell-off

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The Australian share market has closed lower in a broad sell-off after rising in the past four sessions.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said it had been a disappointing day for investors as the market fell through a “technical” support level of 5,750 points, amid weakness in overseas markets.

“It appears that a technical failure at 5,750 points on the index has added to the weight on the market today,” Mr McCarthy said.

“Given the negative leads that we had from overseas markets, it wasn’t surprising to see the weakness, but that push through the technical level has added weight to the selling.”

Mr McCarthy said technical failure indicated underlying weakness in the market, with pressure on energy and materials stocks due to falls in commodity prices spreading to other unrelated sectors.

Mr McCarthy said investors needed to see the market stay above the 5,750 point level before they felt confident enough for a push towards 6,000 points.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was off 48 cents at $29.34, and Rio Tinto was 98 cents lower at $57.31.

Iron ore pure play Fortescue Metals dropped four cents to $2.36. Fortescue Metals has confirmed reports that it set up a company in Singapore but insists it has not used it to avoid paying tax.

Among the major banks, the Commonwealth shed 51 cents to $84.13, ANZ reversed 17 cents to $32.52, National Australia Bank gave away 44 cents at $33.56, and Westpac dumped 45 cents at $33.20.

Among other stocks, McGuigan wines owner Australian Vintage fell two cents to 38 cents as it warned of a 10 per cent drop in full year profit.

Programmed Maintenance Services climbed nine cents to $2.64 as chief executive Chris Sutherland said a proposed takeover of rival Skilled Group would give it the scale to compete for bigger contracts.

Construction materials group Adelaide Brighton surged 22 cents to $4.80 as it predicted steady sales this year but said competition is likely to pick up.

KEY FACTS

* At 1617 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 48.1 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 5,725.3 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 46.2 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,724.2 points.

* The June share price index futures contract was down 38 points at 5,740 points, with 24,759 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 1.64 billion securities worth $4.55 billion.