The Australian share market was dragged lower by renewed concerns that Greece is heading towards default and a weak lead from Wall Street while lower commodity prices weighed on mining stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 71.5 points, or 1.68 per cent, at 4,181.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 70.2 points, or 1.62 per cent, to 4,257.2 points.
On the ASX 24 at 1635 AEDT, the March share price index futures contract was down 80 points at 4,140 points, with 47,148 contracts traded.
IG Markets market strategist Stan Shamu said investor sentiment had turned negative after European Union officials remained highly reluctant to approve a second Greek bailout package worth 130 billion euros ($A159.44 billion).
Mr Shamu said there had been unconfirmed reports that the second rescue deal could be pushed beyond March, with some suggesting there may be a bridging loan that would provide Greece with just enough funds to make its 14.4 billion euro ($A17.66 billion) bond redemption on March 20.
“This would avoid giving Greece the full 130 billion euros until after the April Greek elections, when it (the euro zone) could get a clearer picture of whether the newly-elected party will keep to the austerity measures,” he said.
Mining giant BHP Billiton was down 80 cents, or 2.22 per cent, at $35.30, Rio Tinto gave up $1.59, or 2.31 per cent, to $67.28 and Fortescue Metals Group backtracked 22 cents, or 3.98 per cent, at $5.31.
The big four banks were all weaker, led by Westpac after it painted a bleak outlook for the economy and posted a weaker than expected $1.5 billion quarterly profit.
Westpac’s shares shed 74 cents, or 3.53 per cent, to $20.22.
ANZ dropped 50 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $21.20, National Australia Bank was down 42 cents, or 1.82 per cent, at $22.63 and Commonwealth Bank retreated 38 cents to $49.85.
Making headlines on Thursday, airline Qantas said it would cut routes, shed 500 jobs and defer aircraft orders after reporting a sharp decline in first half net profit.
Qantas jumped 9.5 cents, or 6.09 per cent, to $1.655 and was the best performing stock on the S&P/ASX 100 index.
The worst performer on that index was breads and spreads maker Goodman Fielder, which reported a 77 per cent fall in first half profit.
Goodman Fielder shares were down three cents, or 5.88 per cent, at 48 cents.
Caltex has not ruled out shutting down its Australian oil refineries after writing down the value of its assets by $1.5 billion due to a high dollar and competition from Asia.
Caltex eased 19 cents, or 1.52 per cent, to $12.35.
Coles owner Wesfarmers reported a mere 0.3 per cent rise in first half profit amid challenging short-term trading conditions.
Wesfarmers was down 76 cents, or 2.55 per cent, at $29.09.
The spot gold price in Sydney at 1618 AEDT was $US1,720.80 per fine ounce, down $US6.65 from Wednesday’s local closing price of $US1,727.45.
Preliminary market turnover was 2.02 billion shares worth $5.77 billion, with 317 stocks up, 681 down and 378 steady.
