The Australian sharemarket was dragged one per cent lower as profit-takers swooped after a two-day rally and a narrowed loss by US aluminium giant Alcoa.
The materials' sector drove the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index down 51.2 points, or 1.03 per cent, at 4899.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 49.6 points, or 1 per cent, to 4931.6 points.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was 39 points lower at 4894 on a volume of 23,273 contracts.
CMC Markets analyst David Taylor said the market started off tentatively then lost its nerve around midday as losses became more broad-based.
"The big news of the day came from the US in terms of Alcoa's fourth-quarter earnings report," Taylor said.
"Despite strong revenues, earnings fell short of expectations and the resources sector took a bit of a hit."
Alcoa, which is listed in Australia but trades infrequently, was steady at A$44.89 after only 500 shares changed hands. The shares of its joint venture partner, Alumina, shed 10c, or 4.85 per cent, to A$1.96 on volume of 20.5 million shares.
BHP Billiton was down 98c, or 2.2 per cent, at A$43.49 while fellow mining giant Rio Tinto backtracked A$1.63, or 2.04 per cent, to A$78.37.
Taylor said the energy sector also weighed on the market. Woodside was down 65c at A$48.63 and Oil Search had given up 8c to A$6.07 but Santos had inched 2c higher to A$14.42.
Lihir gave up 4c to A$3.42, Newcrest had appreciated 46c to A$37.28 and Newmont was down 9c at A$5.35.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was US$1153 per fine ounce, down US$1.30 from Monday's closing price of US$1154.30.
Among bank stocks, National Australia Bank lost 30c to A$26.95, ANZ slipped 13c to A$22.26, Commonwealth Bank was steady at A$56.57 and Westpac was also steady at A$25.18.
Making headlines yesterday, Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law Alasdair MacLeod is leaving the company as part of a restructure of News Corp's Australian newspaper business. News Corp was down 12c at A$17.74 and its non-voting scrip had eased 3c to A$15.23.
Consolidated Media inched 1c lower to A$3.03 and Fairfax Media was steady at A$1.72.
- AAP
Profit-takers drive Aussie shares down
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