Australian stocks closed slightly weaker ahead of a key German court decision about the eurozone funding package, with declines among the utilities and financial sectors leading the broader market lower.
At 1615 AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down eight points, or 0.18 per cent, at 4,325.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 9.7 points, or 0.22 per cent to 4,348.3 points.
On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was steady at 4,331 points, with 18,074 contracts traded.
The local market opened down about 0.3 per cent on the back of a negative lead from Wall Street before gaining some ground throughout the day amid quiet conditions.
CMC Markets sales trader Ben Taylor said investors were staying on the sidelines ahead of a decision by a German court regarding the legality of the eurozone’s bailout fund for weaker European economies.
Mr Taylor said market players were mulling over a potential further round of economic stimulus from the US Federal Reserve after a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee concluded on Thursday (US time).
“Investors remain calm and cautious preferring to sit on their hands ahead of Germany’s Constitutional court decision and Thursday’s FOMC meeting,” Mr Taylor said in a research note.
Utilities stocks were the worst performing sector on the market on Tuesday, falling 0.96 per cent, according to IRESS data.
Financials – a big market sector – backpedalled 0.23 per cent and industrials slipped 0.72 per cent.
On a positive note, healthcare companies gained 1.57 per cent and were the best-performing sector.
Among the major miners BHP Billiton was up 12 cents at $32.58 a day after it announced job shedding at several of its coal mines.
Rio Tinto was down 17 cents at $54.53. Fortescue Metals Group was down 18 cents at $3.37, a fresh three-year low amid reports that the iron ore miner’s major lender has extended the syndication deadline of a $US1.5 billion ($A1.46 billion) loan until the end of this month.
Also making news on Tuesday, Virgin Australia said passenger numbers and average airfares were up in July and August, compared with the same time a year ago.
The stock rose half a cent to 42 cents.
Ports and rail operator Asciano was down one cent at $4.45 after it reported a five-year extension of an agreement with privately-owned logistics company Linfox will generate revenue of up to $400 million.
Sydney Airport was up two cents at $3.18 after announcing the appointment of former Macquarie Group executive as its new chief financial officer.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,728.30 per fine ounce, down $US8.43 from Monday’s local close of $US1,736.73 per ounce.
National turnover was 1.9 billion securities worth $3.5 billion, with 413 stocks up, 498 down and 369 unchanged.
