Australian share market ends lower after profit-taking
Write:
Tahirah [2011-05-20]
The Australian share market closed weaker on Friday on profit-taking after several strong days trading.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 10.1 points, or 0.21 percent, at 4,689.0 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 7.7 points lower, or 0.16 percent, at 4,758.2 points.
Market turnover was 2.4 billion securities worth 4.51 billion AU dollars (4.48 billion U.S. dollars), with 536 stocks up, 569 down and 385 unchanged.
The miners were mixed at the close. Rio Tinto finished up 1.12 AU dollars, or 1.37 percent, at 83.20 AU dollars. This followed an over four percent increase on Thursday, while BHP Billiton closed down one cent at 41.65 AU dollars and Fortescue Metals Group ended up three cents at 6.41AU dollars.
In the banking sector, four banks were down on profit-taking. Westpac lost 18 AU cents to 22.93 AU dollars, Commonwealth Bank closed down 10 cents at 51.10 AU dollars, ANZ was 19 cents lower at 23.81 AU dollars and National Australia Bank was down 19 cents at 25.49 AU dollars.