SYDNEY: The Australian sharemarket has fallen further away from the elusive 6,000-point threshold, closing weaker for a second day as mining and supermarket stocks weighed on the market.
At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 13.7 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,946.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 11.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,916.2.
The main drag on the local sharemarket was mining stocks, despite a lift in the iron ore price, as Standard & Poor’s put eight high-profile miners on watch for investment ratings downgrades.
Weakness in major supermarket stocks also contributed to the soft market.
IG market strategist Stan Shamu said it seemed investors were waiting for confirmation of an impending Reserve Bank interest rate cut, after the benchmark index stalled near 6,000 points yesterday.
