The Australian stock market has closed lower, despite solid gains in the resources sector.
Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee said materials stocks had again outperformed the wider market following a soft lead from the US where disappointing earnings results from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs weighed on the market.
“More confidence has returned to the materials space and I think we’ve seen a realisation that banks will perhaps underperform,” Ms Lee said.
“We’re set up for miners outperforming in terms of their earnings in February reporting season, and we’re expecting some moderate growth from the banks.”
Investors were looking ahead to the release of China’s fourth quarter GDP numbers on Monday, followed by BHP Billiton’s fourth quarter report on Wednesday.
Materials and energy sectors have been buoyed by strong production reports from Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum on Thursday and a slide in the Australian dollar.
BHP Billiton was one of the strongest performers on Friday, with its shares up $1.07 cents, or 2.9 per cent, to $37.89, while Rio was up 74 cents to $66.32 and iron ore miner Fortescue was 15 cents higher at $5.68.
Oil and gas giant Woodside Petroleum was 49 cents higher at $39.12, and Santos had gained 14 cents to $14.51.
The big four banks all lost ground, with the Commonwealth down 33 cents at $75.47, ANZ six cents worse off at $31.03, Westpac falling 23 cents to $31.60 and NAB down 35 cents to $33.74.
Telstra was four cents lower at $5.24.
Meanwhile, shares in Super Retail Group were down $1.78 to $10.79 following a disappointing sales result.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 3.2 points, or 0.06 per cent, lower at 5,305.9.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 3.0 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 5,316.4.
* The March share price index futures contract was 3.0 points lower at 5,268, with 20,855 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.4 billion securities worth $3.6 billion.
