Close The Australian sharemarket has closed marginally as investors took profits on another quiet day during the holiday period.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 11.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4839.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 9.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4847.
All sectors were in the red, with materials losing 0.3 per cent, energy shares down 0.2 per cent and financials slipping 0.1 per cent.
CMC Markets sales trader manager Grant Tierney said the local market experienced another quiet day, following a weak lead from United States markets.
‘‘We saw some profit-taking today, and I think people are just about ready to see 2009 off,’’ Mr Tierney said.
need2know:
- Asian shares wilt before year-end
- Dollar rises above 89 US cents in thin trade
- Oil slips further below $US80
- Gold steadies at $US1093
- Dow futures are 16 points lower at 10,471
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton eased 22 cents to $42.70 and Rio Tinto improved 22 cents to $74.64.
Zinc and copper producer Kagara nudged up 1 cent to $1.04 after it bought a metals deposit from Liontown Resources for $4.5 million.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum surrendered 30 cents to $47.35 and Santos retreated 8 cents to $14.00.
In the gold sector, Newmont slipped 4 cents to $5.33, Newcrest descended 32 cents to $34.96, and Lihir was off 2 cents at $3.25.
Telco Telstra was steady at $3.41, and Optus-owner Singapore Telecommunications was down 2 cents at $2.45.
Retailer Woolworths was 8 cents lighter at $27.59, and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, was 12 cents heavier at $31.14.
In the media sector, News Corp lost 5 cents to $17.95, and its non-voting stock lifted 10 cents to $15.50. Consolidated Media fell 2 cents to $3.07, and Fairfax weakened 1 cent to $1.71.
Among other stocks, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises rose 15 cents to $5.25 after it said it had acquired Belgian pizza chain Pizza Company.
Shares in aged care and retirement villages operator IOR Group were officially listed on the ASX and traded at $1.20 per share.
The top-traded stock by volume was Monitor Energy, with 84.57 million shares worth $424,300 changing hands. Monitor Energy was 0.2 cents lower at 0.4 cents.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.06 billion shares worth 1.74 billion, with 521 stocks up, 454 down and 347 unchanged.
