News from AAP

Aust market down after five days of gains

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The Australian share market has closed nearly one per cent lower, dragged back by the major banks and continued weakness in the resources sector due to lower commodity prices.

Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said investors on the Australian bourse had decided to step back after the market’s strong rise upwards over the five sessions prior to Tuesday.

“We’ve had a pretty good run. Until today we’ve had five days in a row where we’ve been up, so you’re not going to keep doing that forever,” Mr Heffernan said.

“A little bit of a retracement is not to be unexpected.”

Mr Heffernan said investors were taking profits on banking stocks which had enjoyed strong support over the last week.

But resources stocks continued to suffer from lower prices for oil, iron ore, copper and other metals.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank retreated 76 cents to $79.64, National Australia Bank was off 40 cents at $29.82, Westpac dropped 18 cents to $31.71, and ANZ dumped eight cents at $27.77.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was down 36 cents at $19.71, Rio Tinto fell 71 cents to $47.42, and Fortescue Metals lost seven cents at $2.11.

Surfwear and skateboards retailer Billabong plunged 16 cents, or 22.86 per cent, to 54 cents after it revealed that the lower Australian dollar and weakness in the North American market had dented group earnings in the first four months of fiscal 2016.

Toll roads operator Transurban was in a trading halt as it snapped up Brisbane’s airport link tunnel for $1.9 billion.

Logistics company Qube Holdings eased three cents to $2.37. Qube is bracing for difficult trading conditions as it battles for control of takeover target Asciano.

KEY FACTS

* At 1619 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 50 points, or 0.95 per cent, at 5,226.4 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 49.3 points, or 0.93 per cent, at 5,277.2 points.

* The December share price index futures contract was down 56 points at 5,229 points, with 25,973 contracts traded, according to preliminary calculations.

* National turnover was 2.7 billion securities traded worth $5.7 billion.