THE Australian sharemarket finished marginally lower, amid news the economy grew less than forecast in the three months to September. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 11.6 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 4661.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 11.7 (0.25 per cent) to 4676.1 points. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 10 points lower at 4654, on 62,317 contracts. Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the market had shown resilience by falling only a little, despite a poor lead from the US market. “It is only a cigarette paper in a negative direction,” Mr Heffernan said. “The market has been treading water for some time now and I think it is very healthy we are getting movements of very small dimensions now rather than that huge volatility we have seen,” he said. He said new national accounts figures that showed the economy rose by a mere 0.2 per cent in the three months to September, less than expected, had hurt the market. “That has had a slight negative impact, but we will roll over on that one and tomorrow will be a new day,” Mr Heffernan said. Economists' forecasts had centred on 0.4 per cent growth in the September quarter. Shares in BHP Billiton were down 5 cents to $41.05 while rival Rio Tinto was off 5c to $70.80. Among the gold miners, Newcrest dropped 48c to $35.41, Newmont fell 4c to $5.58 and Lihir lost 7c to $3.23. The spot price of gold was $US1122.70 per fine ounce, down $US2.52 from yesterday’s closing price.

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