Australian stocks ended weaker on Monday as shares in index heavyweight News Corp slipped and some major resource stocks also lost ground in quiet holiday-thinned trade.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 6.5 points, or 0.2 percent, at 3,450.5 on volume of A$808 million ($590 million), or just over a third of normal turnover, as the market eased after approaching a two-year high on Friday.
Business was closed in Sydney to mark the Anzac Day holiday, though companies in Melbourne, the country's second-biggest city, were set to work as usual.
"The market was very, very quiet, given that Victoria and Tasmania were the only states up and running in terms of trading," Commonwealth Securities institutional research sales advisor Chris Bagley said.
News Corp shares closed down 1.2 percent at A$12.91, following weakness in its US-listed shares on Friday.
Concern over the outlook for metals prices on the London Metal Exchange weighed on major miners, with BHP Billiton down 0.8 percent at A$12.09 and Rio Tinto down 0.2 to A$33.14.
Queensland-based UNiTAB added 3.6 percent to A$7.28, buoyed by Friday's deal with rival bidder Tabcorp Holdings to carve up the assets of Australia's second biggest gaming group Tab Ltd.
Banks were mixed, with Westpac ending down 0.6 percent at A$17.74, while ANZ closed up 0.3 percent at A$18.95 ahead of its half-year profit result on Tuesday.
"While housing loans might be easing off a little bit, the non-residential sector is continuing to do very well and all the major banks now have a funds management arm under their wing," F.W. Holst & Co analyst Michael Heffernan said. Shares in shopping centre property manager Westfield Holdings eased 0.3 percent to A$14.40, while Westfield Trust added 0.5 percent to A$4.10 and Westfield America Trust gained 0.9 percent to A$2.22.
Shares in the companies rallied strongly last week after Westfield Holdings unveiled a merger plan to create the world's most valuable owner, developer and manager of retail property.
Elsewhere, Arc Energy added almost six percent to A$0.89 after positive results from its Xyris 1 exploration well.
Comments
Comments are closed.