KEY POINTS:
The Australian stock market closed in negative territory, with a fifth profit upgrade from Qantas since a failed A$11.1 billion takeover bid lapsed headlining a weak day for the bourse.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 17.6 points at 6597.6, while the All Ordinaries lost 14.3 points to 6661.1.
At 1615 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 37 points lower at 6606 on a volume of 18,960 contracts.
CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said the market was flat for most of the day with a degree of nervousness still in the local market.
"I think leading into Christmas we really need a better lead out of the US," Mr Vaughan said.
"How they perform tonight will very much factor into where we're heading into Christmas."
Mr Vaughan said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent in November was "was slightly softer than expected".
"That employment number today has probably eased the pressure of a rate hike in Australia, but only slightly," he said.
Qantas gained 15 cents to A$5.90 after the airline announced a profit upgrade to A$1.5 billion for fiscal 2008, its fifth since the collapse of an A$11.1 billion bid for the airline in May, which had the support of the airline's management and board.
The Dow Jones industrial average put on 41.13 points to 13,473.90, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 8.94 points to 1,486.59 and the Nasdaq gained 18.79 points to 2,671.14.
Flight Centre picked up A$1.09 to A$31.00 after the travel agency group said it expected a significant improvement in its first half profit to about between A$85 million and A$90 million.
The banking sector was mixed, with Commonwealth Bank finding eight cents to A$60.62, National Australia Bank putting on two cents to A$39.18 and ANZ shedding 18 cents to A$27.92.
Westpac dipped 13 cents to A$29.48 despite the bank saying its credit quality remained sound amid volatile conditions in global credit markets.
The big miners were mixed, with BHP Billiton adding six cents to A$43.26 and rival Rio Tinto shedding 80 cents to A$141.20.
Mining and freight services company Bradken dropped A$5.96 to A$8.84 after the company said its earnings growth had been below market expectations and that it now expected flat profit growth for the first half.
The media sector was mixed, with Fairfax adding one cent to A$4.80, News Corp losing 28 cents to A$24.36 and its non-voting shares dipping 36 cents to A$23.34.
The energy sector was mixed, with Woodside gaining 34 cents to A$47.85, Oil Search putting on 11 cents to A$4.83 and Santos losing 11 cents to A$14.42.
The spot price of gold was higher and at 1623 AEDT was trading at US$811.20 an ounce, up US$6.60 an ounce from yesterday's local close.
The gold miners were mixed, with Newcrest gaining A$1.26 to A$34.47 and Newmont shedding one cent to A$5.64.
Lihir Gold dropped 18 cents to A$3.72 after the company downgraded its 2007 production forecast for the second time after unplanned maintenance shutdowns.
The most traded stock on the market today was Flinders Diamonds, with 255.6 million shares changing hands worth A$23.3 million.
The junior explorer added two cents to 9.8 cents.
Preliminary market turnover reached 1.99 billion worth A$5.61 billion, with 601 stocks moving up, 620 moving down and 394 unchanged.
- AAP