The Australian share market has closed lower with the major miners, energy players and banks leading losses after Wall Street fell and the Australian dollar lost ground.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 0.81 per cent lower at 5,729.6, reversing Thursday’s strong gains.
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said Wall Street retreated overnight as investors consolidated gains, while a rising US dollar drove down commodity prices and weighed on the Australian dollar.
“We have been dragged down by a number of factors; weak leads from US markets, weaker commodity prices overnight and a fall in the Australian dollar,” Mr Heffernan said.
“There were not many winners today but those that did perform well were the ones set to benefit from higher interest rates in the US, including Computershare and QBE.”
Share registration group Computershare was up 19 cents, or 1.39 per cent, to $13.82, while insurer QBE gained 23 cents, or 1.84 per cent, to $12.73.
Global oil prices fell to a three-week low overnight on concerns about Russian oil production which showed no signs of tightening supply in February, while weak base metals weighed on the miners.
As for the major energy players on the ASX, Woodside Petroleum slipped 23 cents to $30.70, Santos fell 10 cents to $3.67 and Origin Energy shed 13 cents to $6.35.
Oil Search bucked the trend to rise one cent to $7.08.
Rio Tinto dropped $2.61, or 4.11 per cent, to $60.92 after the mining giant said it will hold back outstanding performance-related pay for previous chief executive Sam Walsh for at least two years, until investigations into a payments scandal in West Africa are more advanced.
BHP Billiton declined 36 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $25.34, while Fortescue Metals gave up 34 cents, or 5.14 per cent, to $6.28.
All of the four major banks were down with CBA 66 cents lower at $83.20, ANZ losing 18 cents to $31.17, NAB falling 30 cents to $32.13 and Westpac shedding 33 cents to $33.93.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar lost ground against a strengthening greenback amid market hopes of imminent US rate rises.
The local unit was trading at 75.54 US cents at 1700 AEDT, compared to 76.56 at the same time on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 47 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 5,729.6 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 45.3 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 5,775.4 points.
* The March SPI200 futures contract was 55 points lower at 5,708 points.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT ON FRIDAY
* 75.54 US cents, from 76.56 on Thursday
* 86.30 Japanese yen, from 87.30 yen
* 71.84 euro cents, from 72.70 euro cents
* 61.62 British pence, from 62.36 pence
* 107.38 New Zealand cents, from 107.35 NZ cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,230.50 per fine ounce, down $US15.7 from $US1,246.20 on Thursday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1430 AEDT:
* CGS 5.25pct March 2019, 1.823 pct, from 1.819pct on Thursday
* CGS 4.25pct April 2026, 2.757pct, from 2.739pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.165 (implying a yield of 2.835pct), down from 97.185 (2.815pct) on Thursday
* March 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 97.960 (2.040pct), down from 97.970 (2.030).
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session)
