The Australian share market has closed lower as commodity prices fall and investors sit on their hands.
IG market analyst Stan Shamu said the ASX 200 had been relatively sidelined for most of the session after soaring by 1.4 per cent on Thursday.
“After a strong performance yesterday, it just seems we’ve run out of legs and investors are just happy to see the market in a holding pattern,” Mr Shamu said.
He said company news had been limited.
Lower prices for commodities have held back the resources sector as investors wait to see where the US Federal Reserve moves next on interest rates.
Oil prices have retreated after two days of gains as the International Energy Agency predicted that a recent surge in world crude demand was set to end.
Gold prices are lower, ending a three-day winning streak and copper prices fell to seven-week lows as the US dollar strengthened.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton had fallen 33 cents to $27.90, Rio Tinto had retreated 34 cents to $57.14, and Fortescue Metals was off two cents at $2.46.
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) plunged 62 cents, or 48.2 per cent, to 67 cents after the operator of Kakadu’s Ranger mine decided to shelve its expansion project due to uncertainty over the price of uranium.
Woodside Petroleum backtracked 12 cents to $36.73, and Santos, ERA’s major shareholder, surrendered seven cents at $8.34.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was one cent higher at $81.42, ANZ lost 10 cents to $31.71, National Australia Bank dropped 25 cents to $32.26, and Westpac dumped 30 cents at $31.67.
Media group News Corp was two cents lower at $18.43 as Rupert Murdoch’s succession plans involving sons James and Lachlan for his global media empire were revealed.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 11.4 points, or 0.21 per cent, lower at 5,545.3.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 10.5 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 5,552.1.
* The June share price index futures contract was 16 points lower at 5,543, with 30,555 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.78 billion securities worth $4.7 billion.
