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MELBOURNE - The Australian stock market closed in negative territory, easing back from yesterday's record highs on the weight of losses from the banks and resources sectors.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 41.9 points lower at 6750.2, while the all ordinaries lost 35.7 points to 6772.5.
At 1615 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 40 points lower at 6782, on a volume of 18,365 contracts.
Macquarie Equities client adviser David Halliday said investors today indulged in profit-taking after a healthy run by the market.
Mr Halliday said investors were also identifying headwinds that could have an effect on the local market.
"You have an oil price that is at record highs and nearing US$100 (a barrel), you've got the Australian dollar at close to 23-year highs, you've got the US economy struggling ... and the market has had an incredibly good run," Mr Halliday said.
"I think those things combined have seen some people hit the sell button and just take a little profit off the top."
The market got off to a weak start despite a strong lead from Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 63.56 points to 13,870.26, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 5.70 points to 1,540.98 and the Nasdaq put on 13.25 points to 2,817.44.
Locally the big miners were weaker, with BHP Billiton giving up 42 cents to A$46.88 and rival Rio Tinto shedding 69 cents to A$111.90.
Copper and gold miner Oxiana dipped eight cents to A$4.03 after its Prominent Hill project in South Australia suffered a A$230 million cost blowout.
The banking sector was mixed, with Westpac adding seven cents to A$29.95, Commonwealth Bank gaining 25 cents to A$61.45, National Australia Bank dropping 39 cents to A$42.75 and ANZ losing 26 cents to A$29.69.
Tabcorp Holdings added 16 cents to A$15.28 after the gaming giant said it was continuing to work with the NSW government on the future of its casino licence in New South Wales.
The retailers were mixed, with Woolworths adding 24 cents to A$33.25, Harvey Norman finding 12 cents to A$6.50, Coles dipping four cents to A$16.11 and David Jones losing four cents to A$4.84.
The Myer Family Company said today it would vote in favour of a proposal by Wesfarmers to acquire retailing giant Coles Group.
JB Hi-Fi added 69 cents to A$16.88 after the electronics retailer said it expected its full year sales to rise by 33 per cent, as current strong trading conditions continued.
Australian Pharmaceuticals Industries gained two cents to A$2.00 despite the company booking a four-month net loss of A$2.6 million.
Perpetual dipped A$2.10 to A$73.76 after the funds manager said it expected first earnings to rise by 10 per cent, even though it had been affected by the fallout in global credit markets.
The media sector was mixed, with Fairfax gaining one cent to A$4.72, PBL adding 30 cents to A$20.97, News Corp shedding 19 cents to A$24.92 and its non-voting shares losing 20 cents to A$23.57.
The energy sector was weaker, with Woodside losing A$1.71 to A$53.50 and Oil Search shedding nine cents to A$4.35.
Santos dropped 60 cents to A$14.34 after drilling failed to detect extensions to the Mutineer-Exeter project in Western Australia.
The spot price of gold was lower and at 1624 AEDT was trading at US$783.30 an ounce, down US$10.00 an ounce from yesterday's local close.
The gold miners were weaker, with Newcrest falling 76 cents to A$31.30 and Newmont dropping 12 cents to A$5.14.
Lihir shed 31 cents to A$4.11 after the miner downgraded its full year production forecast and warned of cost pressures to a planned expansion.
Junior iron ore explorer Sundance Resources was the most traded stock on the market today with 60.24 million shares changing hands, collectively worth A$38 million.
Sundance shares added 2.5 cents to 61 cents.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.63 billion, worth A$5.91 billion, with 617 stocks up, 646 down and 389 unchanged.
- AAP