SYDNEY: The Australian sharemarket slipped as banks helped push the bourse into negative territory, while mining stocks defied the downward trend and were snapped up by bargain hunters.
At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 23.9 points, or 0.42 per cent, lower at 5674, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 22.4 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 5659.5.
Materials were the major sector to defy the overall weakness, with IG chief markets analyst Chris Weston noting that mining stocks had seen “good buying”.
“This has been assisted by a mix of short covering and some speculation around China purchasing a stake in Fortescue’s infrastructure,” he said.
Lonsec general manager of equities research Bill Keenan said some “bargain hunters” had entered the market.
“There was nothing major commodity-wise so it was perhaps just a case of bargain hunters coming in after the miners had been beaten up a bit too much,” he said.
“Crude did rise 2 per cent so that might have helped.”
Mr Keenan said supermarkets were hit hard over continuing price competition concerns in the sector while the market was also unhappy with Origin Energy’s sale price for its stake in NZ-based Contact Energy.
