Stocks end on downbeat note

The local market has taken a breather from recent gains, but added more than 1pc for the week.

The Australian sharemarket has ended the week on a sour note, finishing in the red for just the second time in 12 sessions after a lacklustre lead from offshore markets.

At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had dipped 14.2 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 5,498.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index eased 14.4 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 5,574.3.

Despite the soft showing the market ended up 1.3 per cent for the week.

Altair Asset Management market analyst Tristan K’Nell said the lacklustre session was to be expected given a strong two-week run that has the market on track for its best July in six years.

“The Australian sharemarket took a well overdue breathier with the local market in a risk-off mood on a combination of a weak Wall Street lead and continued volatility amongst commodities,” he said.

“Coming into the session it did feel the market had run very hard, with 10 out of the previous 11 sessions ending higher on the back of stimulus hopes out of Japan and England and expectations of an RBA rate cut bringing the yield chasers out of the woodworks.”

The market was again plagued by low volumes, with no real conviction to the moves seen over recent weeks.

The straggler for the session was the retail sector, which had enjoyed the strongest run-up this week on hopes for a rate cut.

However, consumer discretionary and consumer staples were not the only sub-indexes to see red, with only the materials space managing to end in positive territory.

The gains were driven by gold stocks, which rallied as the precious metal regained favour during offshore deals.

Newcrest rose 2 per cent, while Regis Resources surged 5.9 per cent to wipe out its recent losses.

BHP Billiton also closed higher, adding 0.21 per cent to $19.30.

Rival mining giant Rio Tinto turned into the red during afternoon trade after a solid start, ending off 0.35 per cent at $48.35, while iron ore miner Fortescue lost 0.25 per cent to $4.05 despite ore prices bouncing above $US56 a tonne.

The financial sector ended weaker after NAB announced restructure of its operations that will three senior managers depart.

It consequently led the falls among the big four banks, sliding 0.69 per cent to $26.06, while ANZ gave back 0.43 per cent to $25.31 and Westpac slid 0.26 per cent to $30.52. Commonwealth Bank bucked the trend to inch up 0.14 per cent to $77.14.

The energy sector was also under pressure after crude prices lost ground.

Woodside dipped 1.1 per cent to $27.30, while Santos fell 1.4 per cent to $4.83 after releasing its half-year production report, which showed record output dampened by oil price weakness.

The biggest slide was seen in the shares of Sorbent owner Asaleo Care, which plunged almost 30 per cent to $1.505 after it cut profit guidance.

The firm is seen as one of the losers in a price battle between the nation’s supermarket giants.

Coles owner Wesfarmers eased 0.57 per cent to $41.80, while Woolworths retreated 0.93 per cent to $22.45.

Among blue chips, Telstra slipped 0.52 per cent to $5.80 and Qantas slumped 2.9 per cent to $3.01.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar ended the local session at US74.85c, after hovering around US75c for most of the day.