(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market closed lower on Friday, extending its losses for the third straight session. The market started off higher after Wall Street rebounded overnight in late trade, but gave away more than 3% of early gains to close marginally lower amid weakness in the banking and resources sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 42.6 points or 1.06% at 3,970.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 43.3 points or 1.09% to finish at 3,944.8. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was up 24 points at 4,051.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar closed higher as improved risk appetite supported the high-yielding currency. The Aussie finished the local session at US$0.6888-0.6892, up about 3.5% from Thursday’s close of US$0.6650-0.6658.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished a volatile trading session sharply higher as traders digested a slew of economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 4.7%, the S&P 500 gained 4.3%, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index advanced 5.5%.

Oil was up $2.6 at $72.45 a barrel by 2:23 a.m. ET on Thursday, rebounding from a 15-month low below $70, amid growing expectations of an OPEC production cut. The contract for November delivery closed down $4.69 at $69.85 a barrel on Thursday in New York.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its international trade price indices for the September quarter. Import Price Index increased 5.0% on quarter and 9.6% for the 12-months through September, while Australia’s Export Price Index increased 13.8% on quarter and 32.9% on year.

In the resources sector, diversified miner BHP Billiton plunged 4.7% and its rival Rio Tinto plummeted 5.1%. Gold miners closed lower on weaker gold prices in Sydney. Newcrest Mining tumbled 6.4%, Lihir Gold fell 5.3%, and Newmont slumped 8.8%. Energy stocks lost ground after oil prices fell for a third day on Thursday. Woodside Petroleum shed 2.7%, Santos lost 4.3%, and Oil Search gave away 3.1%.

Among banks, ANZ dropped 2.8%, Commonwealth Bank declined 2.3%, National Australia Bank sank 4.9%, and Westpac slid 2.4%. Meanwhile, the retailers finished mixed, with Woolworths adding 1.7%, David Jones jumping 5.4%, and Wesfarmers losing 0.9%. Harvey Norman closed unchanged.

Macquarie Airports gained 2.6% after security holders voted in favor of the group’s sale of A$1.5 billion of assets and a buyback of A$1 billion of its securities. Healthscope closed unchanged after the private hospitals operator said that the global economic turmoil would have no impact on the company and it had sufficient funds for its expansion plans. ABB Grain soared 12.8% after the grain storer and marketer raised its annual profit guidance range to between A$47 million and A$49 million.

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

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