Aussie market closes half a per cent lower

SYDNEY - The Australian share market closed half a per cent lower, with Lend Lease, OneSteel and Qantas leading the losses as investors judged that share gains over recent months now needed to be justified by earnings results.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 25.8 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 4,812.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 27.4 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 4,818.8.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange at 1625 AEDT, the December share price index contract was 18 points lower at 4,827 on a volume of 27,757 contracts.

"It's a pause," EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking director Richard Morrow said.

"Share prices need the earnings to catch up with them.

"America had a pretty ugly last hour of trade and the whole (Asian) region had a rouge tinge ... we're not Robinson Crusoe."

Lend Lease led the real estate trusts lower, falling 41 cents, or 3.78 per cent, to $10.45. Westfield slumped 29 cents, or 2.14 per cent, to $13.25 and Stockland declined eight cents, or 1.96 per cent, to $4.01.

Investors are "not certain which way to jump yet" with real estate companies," Mr Morrow said.

Qantas lost nine cents, or 3.01 per cent, to $2.90.

OneSteel and other steel producers declined. OneSteel fell 10 cents, or 2.97 per cent, to $3.27, Bluescope fell six cents to $3.32 and Sims Metal declined 62 cents to $22.64.

"Globally, the Chinese are producing steel again, which is weighing on the steel price," Mr Morrow said.

Some of the financial stocks also led declines.

AMP fell 18 cents, or 2.79 per cent, to $6.28 after saying its lower net inflows in the third quarter reflect ongoing subdued investor confidence following the global financial crisis.

AXA Asia Pacific lost 11 cents, or 2.36 per cent, to $4.55 and Macquarie Group fell 88 cents, or 1.63 per cent, to $53.10.

The major banks were mixed with ANZ slipping 31 cents to $23.53 and National Australia Bank was down 48 cents to $30.72.

Commonwealth Bank added 11 cents to $54.54 and Westpac gained 13 cents to $26.50.

Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday, giving up ground late in the session as financial stocks fell in response to concerns about Wells Fargo by a noted US banking analyst.

Most of Asia's markets declined, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.82 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI losing 1.29 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declining 1.06 per cent as of 1631 AEDT.

Australian miners were mixed. The market's biggest stock, BHP Billiton fell 17 cents to $39.66 after reporting record quarterly iron ore output, but flagged softer Chinese demand for commodities for the rest of calendar 2009.

Rival Rio Tinto gained 20 cents to $66.80.

At 1634 AEDT, the spot price of gold in Sydney was $1,058.40 per fine ounce, up US$2.31 from Wednesday's closing price of US$1,056.09.

Lihir Gold rose two cents to $3.21.

Fellow gold producer Newcrest Mining slipped 62 cents to $35.48 after reporting a five per cent fall in first quarter gold production due to lower-grade output at one mine and slower commissioning at another.

Major stocks to buck the downward trend included Amcor, which added eight cents to $5.72 after saying its trading for the first quarter was consistent with its outlined expectations.

QBE Insurance gained 29 cents to $23.21, Suncorp added 13 cents to $9.41, Coca-Cola Amatil rose 17 cents to $10.67, and Brambles increased 12 cents to $7.25.

In other news, Ten Network posted an $89.35 million annual loss but said there were signs of an improvement in the advertising market as Australia emerged from the global economic downturn.

Ten was down 4.5 cents at $1.54.

Regional pay-television operator Austar said it was on track to achieve double-digit earnings growth for calendar 2009, after posting a lift in third quarter earnings.

Austar fell 3.5 cents to $1.33.

Other media stocks also declined, with Fairfax losing five cents to $1.715 and News Corp falling 22 cents to $16.00.

Engineering and property services company United Group fell 19 cents to $14.04 after saying it is in strong shape after a solid first quarter with earnings for 2009/10 expected to be broadly in line with the previous financial year.

Funds manager Perpetual said its first half net profit may more than triple as equity markets stage a recovery. Perpetual shares gained 39 cents, or 1.02 per cent, to $38.75.

Shares in Transport and logistics firm Asciano Group fell half a cent to $1.645 after it said it continued to see buoyant conditions across its key business, particularly coal haulage, but remains cautions about the year ahead.

The most traded stock by volume was animal medicine maker Stirling Products, with 139.2 million shares worth $2.04 million changing hands.

Its shares added 0.4 cent, or 40 per cent, to 1.4 cents.

Overall turnover was 3 billion shares worth $5.41 billion, with 471 stocks up, 662 down and 336 steady.

- AAP