Australian share market dragged lower by utilities, banks, miners

Utilities, banks and miners weighed on the Australian share market, which sunk into the red after starting the trading week with two straight days of gains.

The Australian share market pulled back for the first time this week, with utilities, banks and miners among sectors losing ground.

The S&P/ASX200 closed 0.73 per cent lower at 6116.4 while the All Ordinaries Index dipped 0.59 per cent to 6294.5.

CommSec analyst Steve Daghlian said the big four banks fell after profit takers capitalised on gains yesterday, when the overall market briefly touched five-month highs.

ANZ slid 1.38 per cent to $18.54, Commonwealth Bank gave up 1.14 per cent to $69.65, National Australia Bank backtracked 1.53 per cent to $18 and Westpac shed 1.29 per cent to $17.62.

Gas pipeline owner APA Group reported higher full year earnings but eased 2.67 per cent to $10.57 after providing a cautious outlook for 2020-21, while power provider AGL Energy softened 3.02 per cent to $15.07.

Telstra declined 3.27 per cent to $2.96.

Rio Tinto weakened 1.6 per cent to $99.29 and BHP was down 0.76 per cent to $38.02 but Fortescue lifted 1.19 per cent to $18.72 despite lower iron ore prices.

Lower gold prices saw Newcrest drop 1.89 per cent to $31.64.

The discovery of unmapped historical underground workings at Whitehaven’s Werris Creek mine in NSW hampered the company in 2019-20. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Whitehaven Coal posted a 95 per cent plunge in full year profit due to tanking coal prices and signalled it was pausing its Vickery mine expansion in NSW, saying it remains “cautious about expansion and capital allocation”.

Shares in the company dived 18.07 per cent to $1.02.

Recycling and rubbish removal business Cleanaway Waste Management booked a full-year profit rise and a higher than flagged final dividend, saying all of its divisions performed well despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Its shares leapt 8.48 per cent to $2.43.

Shares in Worley jumped 6.37 per cent to $9.69 after the engineering giant booked a lift in annual profit and increased dividends following a “transformative” financial year when it completed a major acquisition.

Diversified conglomerate Wesfarmers inched 0.27 per cent higher to $48.73 while airline Qantas finished 1.03 per cent lower at $3.79.

The Aussie dollar was fetching 71.92 US cents, 54.75 British pence and 60.87 Euro cents in afternoon trade.