The major banks have driven the share market lower, extending its losses from Wednesday when it recorded its biggest one-day fall in two years.
The market plunged 2.3 per cent on Wednesday after market heavyweight the Commonwealth Bank released a flat third quarter cash profit.
This spooked investors and triggered concerns about a lack of growth in the economy and the negative effect it’s having on the banks profits.
The last of the big four banks, the National Australia Bank, released its first half cash profit of $3.32 billion on Thursday.
While it was welcomed news, the banking sector is slowly recovering on Thursday from its 3.2 per cent fall, CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said.
“They are treading water rather than coming back in a strong manner,” he said.
“It’s been a mixed profit result: the National Australia Bank has largely come in line with expectations, CBA didn’t enjoy an improvement in profits, ANZ came in a little better than forecast, while Westpac missed the mark.”
NAB went into a trading halt on Thursday after announcing that it’ll tap shareholders for $5.5 billion in a massive capital raising.
The Commonwealth was up 13 cents at $83.11 after falling nearly six per cent on Wednesday.
Westpac had lost nine cents to $33.90 and ANZ shed 20 cents to $33.01.
Among the miners, BHP Billiton fell 46 cents to $31.89, after shareholders approved its plans to demerge.
Rio Tinto had lost 58 cents to $58.54 and Fortescue Metals was flat at $2.58.
Meanwhile, the official jobless rate has risen slightly to 6.2 per cent in April from 6.1 per cent in March.
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the figure shows the unemployment rate appears to have steadied and had little impact on an already weak market day.
KEY FACTS
* At 1615 AEST on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 46.5 points, or 0.82 per cent, at 5,645.7.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 45.8 points, or 0.80 per cent, at 5,645.1.
* The June share price index futures contract was 45 points lower at 5,610 with 41,552 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.64 billion securities worth $5.89 billion.
