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MELBOURNE - Australian stocks have recovered some of their earlier losses but still ended the day on a low note, after overseas markets and interest rate fears struck the local bourse.
At the 1615 AEST close, the S&P/ASX200 index was down 26 points at 6311.1 and the all ordinaries was 29.2 points lower at 6338.2.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index futures contract was 26 points lower at 6321 on a volume of 24,797 contracts.
"A very strong performance really, given what's happening offshore," Aequs Securities institutional dealer Ric Klusman said.
Mr Klusman said the major movers for the day were Woolworths, which added 34 cents to A$27.50, and ANZ, which climbed 24 cents to A$29.51, after a management reshuffle that will has Peter Hodgson taking over as group managing director institutional.
Other banks were not as positive, NAB lost 17 cents to A$41.00 and Westpac dropped 11 cents to A$25.90, but Commonwealth firmed three cents to A$54.67.
Elsewhere, in retail, Coles shed eight cents to A$16.52 and David Jones also reversed three cents to A$5.27.
"The problems were BHP and Rio Tinto, and I think Fortescue had a bit of blood today," Mr Klusman said.
"Generally the market is a bit nervous with all the interest rate talk, but it was a pretty strong performance to come back.
"Looks like there's some big mandates moving around the fund management area, too, putting some pressure on particular stocks."
In the resources sector, the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton declined 13 cents to A$32.93, smaller rival Rio Tinto plummeted A$1.60 to A$93.50 and iron ore hopeful Fortescue Metals slumped A$2.23, or 5.76 per cent to A$36.50.
At 1621 AEST The spot price of gold in Sydney had improved by 95 US cents to US$672.20 per fine ounce.
Miners of the precious metal were mixed, Lihir dropping two cents to A$3.21 but Newcrest added 29 cents or 1.23 per cent, to A$23.90 after it revealed it is considering closing its gold-hedge book.
Energy plays were trading higher, Woodside gaining 15 cents to A$44.30 and Santos swelling eight cents to A$13.58.
The market was earlier dealt a blow by Wall Street, with US stocks falling sharply for a second day after data showing higher than expected labor costs stoked worries about inflation and interest rates.
Energy stocks such as Exxon Mobil Corp fell, after government data showed petrol stockpiles were up more than forecast.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 129.79 points, or 0.95 per cent, to end at 13,465.67.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 13.57 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 1,517.38, posting its biggest two-day drop since March.
The Nasdaq Composite Index skidded 24.05 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 2,587.18.
- AAP