The share market has closed weaker as a higher US dollar hurt resources and energy stocks and investors chose caution ahead of key US jobs numbers that are likely to help determine the timing of a hike in US interest rates.
Most sectors of the market were in the red, but energy and materials stocks and consumer staples were the worst performers, OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said.
“There are some serious macro events that are on investors’ minds at the moment, starting with the ADP private-sector employment report out of the US tonight but culminating in the non-farm payrolls on Friday,” he said.
“That’ll be the last piece of evidence that we have before the Fed (the US Federal Reserve) decides on rates for September.”
Mr Le Brun said investors may also have been rebalancing their portfolios on Wednesday, the final day of the month.
He said some company valuations were looking a little stretched given earnings guidance in the nearly completed company reporting season had often been lacking.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton dropped 68 cents to $20.43, Rio Tinto shed $1.30 to $47.60 and Fortescue Metals eased 18 cents to $4.90.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum lost 25 cents to $28.63 and Santos retreated six cents to $4.44.
Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank gave away $1.09 to $71.81, Westpac shed 19 cents to $29.46, National Australia Bank added 10 cents to $27.34 and ANZ climbed 36 cents to $26.90.
Harvey Norman gained 14 cents to $5.38 as a boom in housing construction and renovation drove a 30 per cent jump in annual profit.
Live cattle exporter Wellard Group plunged 4.5 cents, or 13.6 per cent, to 28.5 cents after it missed its prospectus forecasts on annual revenue, profit and margins.
KEY FACTS:
* At 1632 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 45.3 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 5,433 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 44.1 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 5,529.4 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was down 49 points at 5,410 points, with 38,276 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 3.2 billion securities traded, worth $7.5 billion.
