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MELBOURNE - Australian stocks ended in negative territory despite positive trading earlier in the day, with few sectors immune from the profit taking.
At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 11.2 points lower at 6186.5, after hitting a new intraday record high of 6237.7.
The all ordinaries declined 14.7 points to 6168.9, after hitting its own intraday record of 6220.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was down six points at 6223 on a volume of 16,243 contracts.
CMC Markets chief analyst David Land said some of the local bourse's heavyweight stocks had contributed to the downturn.
"I think the skip around on the BHP price has been one of the major weights, as has the NAB price," he said.
"It's pretty much all, bar the finance sector."
He said the reason for the lower trading might be the high levels reached recently, including a new record high yesterday.
"When we get at these very high levels, I think you get the market acting more quickly to take profits," he said.
"Simply because of the very strong run up that we've had, it makes people act a little bit more tentatively.
"A lot of people are keen to maybe lighten the load of some positions they have at these levels."
In the banking sector only NAB showed losses among the big four, shedding 21 cents to A$43.18, but Commonwealth added 46 cents to A$52.65, Westpac climbed 50 cents to A$27.03 and ANZ lost 28 cents to A$31.03.
But in the resources sector, it was a different story, with BHP Billiton backtracking 33 cents to A$30.06 and Rio Tinto dropping 44 cents at A$83.41.
At 1627 AEST, the spot price of gold in Sydney was down just half a cent at US$687 per fine ounce.
Miners of the precious metal were mixed, with Newcrest down 38 cents at A$23.24, but Lihir stayed steady at A$3.36 after revealing plans to raise A$1.2 billion to close out its hedge book, repay debt and fund future developments, in a major restructure of the company.
Among energy interests, Santos tumbled 26 cents to A$10.65 and Woodside Petroleum slumped 61 cents to A$38.94.
The Australian stockmarket took a turn downwards despite a positive open and morning's trade, thanks, in part, to a solid lead from Wall Street.
US stocks closed on a high after positive retail statistics pointed to a robust economy, and Citigroup led gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average increased 108.33 points to 12,720.46, close to its record high of 12,795.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 15.62 points to 1,468.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 26.39 points to 2,518.33.
Australia's biggest retailer Woolworths stepped back 30 cents to A$28.78 after saying it is interested in the general merchandise business of rival Coles.
The comment came after Woolworths reported a near nine per cent lift in quarterly sales.
Potential takeover target Coles lost 12 cents to A$17.22 and sector peer David Jones gave back 13 cents at A$4.61.
APN News & Media advanced 12 cents to A$6.04 after Independent News & Media and its US-based private equity partners sweetened their bid for trans-Tasman media group for the fourth and final time.
Another media target, Southern Cross Broadcasting, confirmed it continues to look at several options, including mergers, acquisitions or the sell-off of assets, and has held talks with a number of companies.
The news helped propel its share price up 44 cents to A$17.45.
Elsewhere in the sector, Fairfax also added five cents to A$5.06 but News Corp lost six cents to A$30.27, its non-voting stock reversed five cents to A$28.50 and PBL retreated 11 cents to A$19.71.
The most traded stock of the day by volume was BioProspect, which is a natural biological resource company.
It ended 1.4 cents higher at 5 cents each, after 69.07 million worth A$3.11 million changed hands.
Preliminary market turnover was 1.94 billion shares worth A$6.39 billion, with 566 companies ending higher, 725 lower and 326 unchanged.
- AAP
