PERTH: The Australian sharemarket closed substantially lower as banking and mining stocks dropped amid a flurry of mixed economic data.
At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was down 41.8 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 5735.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 40.9 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 5734.
The financial sector and mining stocks weighed heavily on the bourse, following the release of a raft of mostly downbeat economic data.
Macquarie Private Wealth division director Martin Lakos said today’s broadbased market fall was the unwinding of Friday’s session, which was the best single-day gain in a month.
With the expiry of options contracts on Friday, investors were reorganising their portfolios and increasing allocations at the end of the month, mainly into Australian equities which had suffered a month of underperformance.
Investor sentiment swung against this today, but trade was light, with volumes well below average.
“Today we’ve also had business indicators pointing to a soft business environment,” Mr Lakos said.
Locally today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ business indicators for the March quarter showed company gross operating profits edged 0.2 per cent higher in the March quarter, against analyst expectations for no change.
