(RTTNews) - The Australian market was trading lower Thursday after opening higher on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street. The market pared early gains as losses in the banking sector offset gains among miners. At 9:04 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 55.2 points or 1.1% at 4,874.3 after gaining as much as 1.3% on Wednesday. The broader All Ordinaries index was losing 47.2 points or 0.9% to 4,950.3.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher after oil prices rose for a second day Wednesday. The local unit opened at US$0.8735-0.8738, up from Wednesday’s close of US$0.8716-0.8720.

On Wednesday, Wall Street finished an erratic session with moderate gains, as investors looked for bargains following the sharp losses posted in the previous sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average and the broader S&P 500 index added 0.6% each, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.2%.

Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after a government report showed a decline in gasoline stockpiles for the second straight week and the largest jump in crude inventories in more than seven years. Crude oil finished the session at US$114.98 a barrel. In the Asian session Thursday, oil continued to rise and by 8:38 p.m. ET oil was quoted at $115.88 a barrel.

On the economic front, the major data scheduled for release is the new motor vehicles sales in July.

Among banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ lost 1.6% each, Westpac dropped 1.8%, and National Australia Bank fell 1.9%. Takeover target St George bank declined 1.0%, while investment bank Macquarie Group shed 1.4%.

Index leader BHP Billiton rose 0.3% and its rival Rio Tinto advanced 0.71%. Gold miners were lower, with Newcrest Mining losing 0.6% and Lihir Gold falling 1.8%. Gold prices rose 0.4% on Thursday. Energy stocks were higher after crude oil settled moderately higher on Wednesday. Woodside gained 0.4%, Oil Search advanced 3.0% and Santos surged 8.4% after the company reported a 30% increase in its first-half underlying profit and announced a A$300 million buyback of its shares.

In the retail sector, David Jones edged up 0.3%, but Woolworths fell 1.9% and Coles owner Wesfarmers lost 1.7%.

Qantas Airways was unchanged after the airline reported a 2.5% fall in second-half profit, below analysts’ estimates, on higher fuel prices. However, the company predicted that it would meet forecasts for the current year.

Fairfax Media plunged 4.0% after the company reported a 47% increase in annual profit following its merger with Rural Press in 2007.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Australia, Economy, Releases, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email