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Banks, miners drag Aussie share market lower

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The Australian share market has closed almost three-quarters of a per cent lower, after the big miners and banks shed early gains, snapping a five-session run of good gains.

After starting the day in positive territory, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed 34.8 points down at 5,108.

Commsec market analyst Steven Daghlian said despite investors choosing to “take money off the table” on Tuesday, the market remained at its best levels in about two months.

“It’s really the banks that have held things back the most,” Mr Daghlian said.

Commonwealth Bank dropped $1.44, or 1.87 per cent, to $75.45, ANZ fell 50 cents, or 1.96 per cent, to $24.98, National Australia Bank was lower by 38 cents, or 1.4 per cent, at $26.85 and Westpac was down 31 cents, or 0.97 per cent, at $31.81.

Among the miners, BHP Billiton fell 34 cents, or 1.83 per cent, to $18.21, while Rio Tinto was down $1.21, or 2.6 per cent, to $45.26.

After surging more than 23 per cent on Monday, Fortescue Metals wiped off 29 cents, or 9.42 per cent, to finish at $2.79.

The fall in Fortescue’s share price came despite announcing it has signed a preliminary agreement with Brazilian iron ore giant Vale to pursue iron ore blending and stake sale in the Australian miner.

“The fact that iron ore prices were higher overnight has been put to one side since Fortescue rose yesterday,” Mr Daghlian said.

“Smaller iron ore producers are big winners as they’re more sensitive to changes in the iron ore price.”

The price of Brent crude oil surged above $US40 a barrel to its highest level since December, but Woodside Petroleum and Santos finished 0.33 per cent and 1.77 per cent lower respectively.

In economic news, the ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index jumped 3.1 per cent in the week ending March 6, climbing back above its long-term average.

Wesfarmers was up 34 cents at $40.86, while Woolworths lost two cents to finish at $23.

KEY FACTS:

* At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34.8 points, or 0.68 per cent, at 5,108 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 35.2 points, or 0.68 per cent, at 5,169.5 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was down 23 points at 5,108 points, with 44,459 contracts traded.

* The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,269.70 per fine ounce, up $US9.10 on Monday’s price of $US1,260.60.

* National turnover was 2.8 billion securities traded, worth $6.17 billion.