The share market has fallen back after a positive start to the week that took it to within five points of the 6,000 point landmark.
Investors were unwilling to push the market beyond that psychological point for the first time in seven years, and are now booking profits made on its strong gains last week, most notably in financial and healthcare stocks.
“There is always a bit of momentum with these moves, when the market is rallying potential buyers don’t want to miss out and if things open fairly flat and drift down they sometimes hold fire to see how far they go,” CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said.
The big banks were mixed after hitting record highs on Friday, with Commonwealth Bank down 42.5 cents at $95.89, Westpac down six cents to $39.67, National Australia Bank flat at $39.39 and ANZ up 14 cents at $36.93.
The biggest losses were in health stocks, with CSL down $1.08 at $94.35 and Cochlear $1.28 weaker at $91.07.
Among the miners, BHP Billiton had added 43 cents to $31.10, Rio Tinto had shed 11 cents at $58.48 and Fortescue Metals was down 1.75 cents at $1.9825 as the iron ore spot price dropped to $US54.67 a tonne.
KEY FACTS
* At 1220 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 17.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,957.6 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 14.9 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,921.4 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was down 11 points at 5,959 points, with 11,961 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 745 million securities worth $1.3 billion.
