Australian stocks ended the day lower, led by falls in the financial sector, with trading volume thin due to a public holiday in New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT.
The All Ordinaries Index finished 14 points lower at 4,592 and the ASX 200 slipped 15 points to 4,587.
The ANZ's latest job ad figures show the number of jobs advertised in newspapers and on the internet increased by 4.4 per cent in September.
The Reserve Bank board meets for its monthly meeting tomorrow and while many economists believe interest rates will remain unchanged at the 49-year low of 3 per cent, some say it will be a close call.
The former Australian wheat monopoly, AWB, says an appeal against a ruling in its favour has been dismissed in the United States.
A class action brought forward by Iraqi litigants over AWB's role in Iraq's oil-for-food program was thrown out by the US Court of Appeal.
The Australian Government stripped AWB of its wheat marketing monopoly in 2006 after it was found to have paid almost $300 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime.
AWB shares have fallen almost 2 per cent to $1.24.
Wesfarmers shares have climbed four cents to $25.55 after the company said today it was cautiously optimistic about the economic outlook for the 2010 financial year.
The Foreign Investment Review Board has given the all clear for a takeover of Australia's Sino Gold by the Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold.
Sino Gold shares ended the day up 11 cents to $6.66.
About 4:15pm (AEDT) the Australian dollar was buying 87.37 US cents, 78.49 Japanese yen, 54.6 UK pence and 59.69 Euro cents.
West Texas crude oil was trading at $US69.95 a barrel and a barrel of Tapis crude was fetching $US70.78.
