(RTTNews) - After a somewhat listless start, the Australian stock market drifted lower on Wednesday with some front line stocks from financial and materials sectors leading the decline. With no significant cues from Wall Street, where stocks had a choppy outing overnight on mixed economic data, investors are currently seen treading a cautious path.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which dropped down to 4,725.8, is currently trading at 4,730 with a loss of 23.5 points, or 0.6%. The broader All Ordinaries index is down 22.9 points, or 0.5%, at 4732.

On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 index had ended with a loss of 76.8 points, or 1.6%, at 4,753.5 while the All Ordinaries index declined 77.7 points, or 1.6%, to 4.754.9.

National Australia Bank Ltd. shares rose marginally in early trades, but have drifted lower and are currently trading nearly 1.5% down. The bank posted a 42.9% fall in annual profit after bad debt charges dented its bottom line. The bank also said loan arrears were starting to stabilize as economic conditions improve. Net profit was A$2.589 billion for the 12 months ended September 2009, down from A$4.536 billion in the previous year, the Melbourne-based bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

Among other stocks in the banking space, ANZ Bank is down 0.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia is trading lower by about 1.5% and Westpac Banking Corporation is down 0.7% from its previous close. Diversified financials stock Macquarie Group is trading modestly lower.

Macquarie Media Group plans to raise A$294 million in new funding to pay down debt, as it prepares to take back its management rights from Macquarie Group Ltd and simplify its corporate structure. The capital raising comprises an underwritten one-for-one renounceable entitlement offer at $1.55 per stapled security. The Macquarie Media Group shares are under a trading halt.

Materials stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are trading notably lower. Newcrest Mining is up with a modest gain. Bluescope Steel, Fortescue Metals, Orica and Lihir Gold are exhibiting weakness.

Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum, Origin Energy and Oil Search are trading lower, while Santos is up nearly 1%.

On the economic front, Australia’s headline consumer price index rose 1% in the September quarter, for an annual rate of 1.3%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. The trimmed mean CPI rose 0.8% in the September quarter, for an annual growth rate of 3.2%. The weighted median CPI rose 0.8% in the September quarter, with an annual rise of 3.8%.

Speaking at the FINSIA Financial Services Conference, Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Malcom Edey said Australia’s banking system has proved more resilient than its overseas counterparts during the global financial crisis but there is a risk that business loans will deteriorate further in the future.

In another news, skilled job vacancies in Australia rose 1.9% in October compared to the previous month, data from the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations showed. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) skilled vacancies index in October was 40.2 points, 44 per cent lower than in October 2008.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened lower with a decline in U.S. consumer confidence causing its weakness. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$0.9147-US$0.9150, down from Tuesday’s close of US$0.9186-US$0.9191. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.9139 to the U.S. dollar.

Among other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are trading weak, while New Zealand is trading higher. The Singapore market is trading flat. On Tuesday, most of the markets in the region had ended notably lower.

On Wall Street, stocks moved in a choppy fashion on Tuesday, as weak consumer confidence and positive news on the housing market diverged trader sentiment. The major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing notably lower.

While the Dow ended up 14.2 points, or 0.1%, at 9,882.2, the S&P 500 closed lower by 3.5 points, or 0.3%, at 1,063.4 and the Nasdaq ended with a loss of 25.8 points, or 1.2%, at 2,116.

Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index posted modest losses, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up 0.2%.

Crude oil prices turned higher on Tuesday amid choppy trading as traders awaited the Energy Information Administration’s inventory data. Light sweet crude for December closed at US$79.55, up 87 cents on the session.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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