The Australian share market has closed nearly one per cent lower as investors took profits after big gains last week.
“It’s just a bit of reflection, a pause for thought, after last week’s dramatic recovery,” IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said on Monday.
Last week, a stronger Aussie dollar, jump in iron ore and oil prices, and strong overseas gains buoyed the market to weekly gains of 4.3 per cent – its best weekly performance in nearly four years.
Mr Weston said investors were still pondering if last week’s market performance indicated that the investment landscape had genuinely changed for the better.
They were considering whether the Aussie dollar would fall significantly further, if commodity prices may improve and if trading on emerging markets would underpin a greater risk-on sentiment in developed markets.
“What we’re really seeing today is just a little bit of profit-taking in areas that did very, very nicely,” Mr Weston said.
The major banks, mining and energy stocks led the local bourse lower.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank fell 30 cents to $31.40, Commonwealth Bank lost 88 cents to $74.65, ANZ eased 11 cents to $28.35, and Westpac backtracked 24 cents to $30.62.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton descended 24 cents to $25.36, and Rio Tinto declined 37 cents to $54.81.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum retreated 59 cents to $32.02, and Santos, which announced it was shedding about 200 Adelaide office jobs, surrendered four cents to $5.93.
Transurban securities dipped five cents to $9.81 despite the toll road operator lifting September quarter revenue 17 per cent.
KEY FACTS
* At 1615 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 46.8 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 5,232.9 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 41.8 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 5,267.4 points.
* The December share price index futures contract was down 48 points at 5,219 points, with 24,448 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.1 billion securities worth $4.5 billion.
