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MELBOURNE - The Australian share market closed slightly lower on Thursday as weakness among the major banks outweighed strength among the big miners.
At the 1615 AEDT close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 9.3 points, or 0.27 per cent, lower at 3428.6, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 9.7 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 3372.6.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was down five points at 3391 on a volume of 22,289 contracts, according to preliminary calculations.
CMC Markets market analyst David Taylor said the bourse was being manoeuvred in two very different directions on Thursday.
"The market would be down a lot more it it weren't for the miners," he said.
"It's the banks dragging the market."
Mr Taylor said negative sentiment on Wall Street over Bank of America had flowed on to the local market.
Negative news from Suncorp-Metway contributed to weakness in the finance sector.
Mr Taylor said the miners were doing well on the back of some sentiment that China could pick up demand for iron ore and copper.
Investors had also been reasonably satisfied with the recent earnings results of global miner BHP Billiton even if they had come in at the lower end of forecasts.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank reversed 81 cents to $18.64, ANZ dumped 94 cents to $12.34, Commonwealth Bank sagged 20 cents to $28.98 and Westpac retreated 45 cents to $16.02.
Suncorp-Metway said on Thursday that its first half net profit would fall by about 30 per cent, and chief executive John Mulcahy agreed to step down.
Shares in Suncorp were in a trading halt pending a capital raising, and last traded at $7.13.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, Macquarie Group surged $1.26 to $24.13 as the investment firm forecast its first profit drop in 17 years but revealed it had $32.1 billion of cash and equivalents, which easily covered debt due in the next 12 months.
In the mining sector, BHP Billiton was up $1.85 at $31.62 and Rio Tinto jumped $3.15 to $47.40.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was down $1.23 at $32.35 and Santos stepped back 37 cents to $13.71.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index was 121.7 points lower, or 1.51 per cent, at 7,956.66.
In the gold sector, Newmont was 27 cents richer at $6.30, Newcrest advanced 85 cents to $30.15 and Lihir picked up eight cents to $3.06.
The price of gold in Sydney at 1629 AEDT was US$903.65 per fine ounce, up US$5.55 on yesterday's close of US$898.10.
Telco Telstra eased two cents to $3.68, and Optus-owner Singpaore Telecommunications nudged up one cent to $2.58.
Among media stocks, News Corp was 13 cents poorer and its non-voting scrip dropped 10 cents to $10.10.
Consolidated Media gave away two cents at $1.78 and Fairfax fell 8.5 cents to $1.115.
Retailer Woolworths was off two cents at $27.73 and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, eased 13 cents to $15.00.
Among other stocks, Lend Lease Corporation worsened $1.10 to $5.56 as it reaffirmed its guidance for a 10 to 15 per cent drop in operating profit for the financial year after raising $302.5 million in new capital.
Steelmaker OneSteel improved one cent to $2.08 after it swung the axe on its management team in a bid to cut costs amid a slowdown in global markets.
The top-traded stock by volume was Qantas Airways, with 69.2 million shares worth $131.1 million changing hands.
Qantas descended 42 cents, or 42 per cent, to $1.87 after it completed an institutional placement to raise $500 million at $1.85 a share.
Preliminary national turnover was 1.18 billion shares worth 4.07 billion, with 489 stocks down, 339 up and 308 unchanged.
- AAP
