The Australian share market finished lower, pulling back from a week-long rally, but made up some of its earlier losses by the close.
The market opened half a per cent lower on Wednesday after dramatic falls on overseas metals markets and a weak start to the US reporting season overnight.
By 1615 AEDT, both major local indices finished only a couple of points below the levels they started at, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index shedding 23.3 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 4,204.3 and the broader All Ordinaries index dropping 22.4 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 4,266.4.
IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock said the market was due for a pullback after its hard rally since last Tuesday, but was optimistic the market wanted to move higher.
“Throughout the day, I noticed that every time we saw a bit of weakness, we’d gravitate back to the 4,200 level; that tells me that there is a lot of conviction in the rally which we’ve seen over the last week,” he said. “Certainly we’ve got the catalyst for a sustained rally to year end.”
Energy stocks fell the most, down 1.1 per cent, despite oil prices rising for the fifth straight session in New York on Tuesday.
Woodside Petroleum fell 23 cents to $35.36, while Santos plummeted 17 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $12.49 and Oil Search shed 11 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $5.95.
City Index chief analyst Peter Esho said uranium stocks had helped to buoy the sector in recent sessions on speculation the industry was consolidating.
But, he said, they were now dragging the sector down after uranium producer Energy Resources Australia (ERA) announced plans to raise $500 million with the issue of new shares at a major discount of $1.53 per share. Its shares were steady at $3.29.
Materials also lost one per cent on the back of falls on offshore metals markets overnight. Mining giant BHP Billiton fell 31 cents to $37.08 after it approved $US1.2 billion in pre-commitment capital for the first phase of the Olympic Dam mine expansion in South Australia.
Fellow miner Rio Tinto lost 54 cents to $67.46.
Fortescue Metals Group also dropped 1.9 per cent, or nine cents, to $4.72 after it said it had increased its iron ore reserves at the Nyidinghu deposit by 980 million tonnes.
Consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks were among the only sectors to gain ground, rising 0.12 and 0.23 per cent respectively. Woolworths pulled the staples sector higher, gaining 30 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $24.92.
Consumer electronics chain JB Hi-Fi rose 3.5 per cent, or 49 cents, to $14.36, recovering some of its earlier losses after telling its annual general meeting that comparable sales for the first quarter of the financial year were down 3.5 per cent on the same period last year.
Meanwhile, wagering and gaming firm Tabcorp Holdings was the best performer on the same index all day after it reported that first quarter revenue rose by 2.7 per cent to $759.4 million compared to the same period last year.
Its shares jumped 4.2 per cent, or 11 cents, higher to $2.71.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,666.31 per fine ounce, down $US12.24 an ounce from Tuesday’s close at $US1,678.55.
Market turnover was 1.59 billion shares worth $4.36 billion, with almost six of each 10 stocks on the ASX 100 falling.
The December share price index futures contract was down 33 points at 4,205, with 33,930 contracts traded.
