Resources weigh on market

Resources weigh on market

Australian shares went on a roller-coaster ride yesterday as the resources sector held down a buoyant lead from the big banks.
Macquarie Equities adviser Helen Spencer said the market had lost ground during the afternoon after a buoyant morning session.
The ASX 200 closed 2.9 points higher at 4380.1 while the All Ordinaries fell 0.8 to 4345.1.
"After a pretty solid start following on from a pretty positive lead from the US overnight, we lost a bit of confidence later in the afternoon," Ms Spencer said.
"With reporting and dividend season around the corner for the banks, they are the ones that have certainly fared the best today," she said.
ANZ closed 36c higher at $23.56, NAB rose 28c to $32.20 and the Commonwealth gained 22c to $37.70.
Westpac was 6c stronger, at $20.41 and St George added 4c to close at $26.50.
Macquarie Bank edged lower, ending 10c weaker at $63.41 after announcing its purchase of a UK ferry service.

The market was boosted from Wall Street overnight, where the S&P 500 index closed with its largest point gain in almost six months as profit reports from JPMorgan and others pointed to strong quarterly earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 128.87 points at 10,414.13 while the S&P 500 rose 17.62 to 1195.76.
Energy stocks took the biggest hit on the local bourse, as oil prices dropped on reports that Hurricane Wilma would not hit key oil producing and refining areas in the US.
Woodside experienced the largest hit, losing 88c to $30.83, Santos slipped 17c to $11.11 and Oil Search shed 1c to $3.26.
The major diversified miners were mixed, with BHP Billiton 4c weaker at $20.01 and Rio Tinto up 11c to $56.30.
Telstra gained 1c to $4.08, Origin Energy closed 9c stronger at $6.52 and bionic ear maker Cochlear slumped 63c to $36.50.
The media sector moved in both directions as News Corp pushed up 11c to $20.65, with its non-voting shares gaining 7c to $19.73, and Seven Network fell 12c to $8.10 .
PBL shed 1c to $16.25 while Fairfax was down 4c at $4.12.
A weakening gold price overnight weighed on goldminer Newcrest Mining, which closed down 75c to $17.25. Lihir Gold weakened 8.5c to $1.565.
The price of gold in Sydney was $US463.80, down $US5.10 on Wednesday's close.
The top traded stock was health care equipment and services company IMI Medical with 34.12 million shares traded for a total value of $761,890. The stock gained 0.1 of a cent to 2.2c