Australian Stock Report Market Wrap Up: Positive jobs data pushes shares lower

SYDNEY - 10 December: The Aussie share market made it three losing sessions in a row today on the back of negative leads from the US.

The ASX 200 pared some of its mid-day losses to end the day marginally above the psychologically key 5000-mark.

“Strength in the mining sector wasn't enough to overcome weakness in financials, energy and consumer staples,” said Chris Conway, Head of Research at Australian Stock Report.

According to Conway, the big four banks were the hardest hit as the sector dropped 1.4% amid the decreased likelihood of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) due to the latest strong employment figures.

“We saw some upbeat jobs numbers, but they seem to be negative for financial stocks,” Conway said.

Westpac (WBC) was the worst of the lot down 2%, while ANZ Bank (ANZ) was down 0.9% and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and National Australia Bank (NAB) off 1.9% and 1.8% respectively.

The miners were the biggest and only gainers on the day as the sector closed up 1.1%. BHP Billiton (BHP) added 1.7%, Rio Tinto (RIO) gained 2.4% while little brother Fortescue (FMG) bucked the broader trend shedding 1.4%.

Among the energy names, Santos (STO) added 0.9% while Woodside (WPL) was down 0.7%, Oil Search (OSH) shed 1.7% and Origin (ORG) lost 0.8%.

On the day, the ASX 200 shed 42 points (-0.84%) to settle at 5038.