The mining giants and major banks have dragged the share market to its third consecutive day of falls.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the market’s good run in April had run out of momentum since the May interest rate cut.
“There’s no obvious news or catalyst for this,” he said of Thursday’s fall, which puts the market on track for its worst week since February.
“It’s all about valuations.”
The big miners were weaker, with Rio Tinto dropping 89 cents to $42.90 and BHP Billiton shedding 25 cents to $18.24.
National Australia Bank lost 42 cents to $26.34, ANZ fell 44 cents to $24.76, Westpac dropped 45 cents to $29.92 and Commonwealth Bank was 92 cents lower at $75.58.
Many retail stocks fell as April retail spending data proved weaker than expected, including Coles owner Wesfarmers, which dropped 37 cents to $40.06, while Woolworths lost 23 cents to $21.57.
KEY FACTS:
* At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 44.3 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 5278.9.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 41 points, or 0.76 per cent, at 5,354.2 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was down 45 points at 5,285 points, with 32,854 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.6 billion securities traded, worth $5.2 billion.
