Telstra job cuts drag on market

The sharemarket closed weaker yesterday led by a fall in Telstra after it unveiled plans to slash jobs as part of a major restructure.
The nation's biggest telco said it would cut as many as 12,000 jobs over the next five years as it moves to reduce costs and boost revenue.
The ASX 200 index was 5.2 points lower to 4603.2 while the All Ordinaries index slid 2.9 points to 4544.9.
The market opened lower after a mixed lead from Wall Street on Monday.
Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith said he had been expecting a quiet day after a buoyant Monday.
"I could tell this morning from the futures that it was going to be a quiet day following a strong Monday," he said. "Quite often a strong Monday will herald a softening during the week and that is what has happened."
He said the Telstra news was also a key driver on market and said the market was at sixes and sevens until Telstra emerged from its trading halt.
Once Telstra shares recommenced trading they quickly became the most traded stock on market, slumping 30c or 6.9 per cent to $4.02.
More than 161.5 million shares swapped hands, worth a total of $658.03 million.
Shares in Macquarie Bank also fell sharply, with a stagnant outlook overshadowing an 88 per cent increase in first half profit to $482 million. Macquarie tumbled $1.40 to $68.50.
The major banks were stronger with CBA rising 44c to $41.59, NAB 21c firmer at $33.20, Westpac up 22c to $22.54 while ANZ gained 3c to $23.50.
Mortgage Choice said it was on track for a small rise in net profit. Its shares lost 1c to $1.50.
The resource heavyweights were weaker with Rio Tinto sliding 28c to $60.96 while BHP Billiton fell 7c to $21.53.
Centennial Coal rose 6c to $3.75, after it said it expected a rise in net profit in 2005-06.
Woodside put on 65c to $32.25 as the price of oil held steady, while Santos rallied 9c to $11.22.
Burns Philp lost 4.5c to $1.115 after it said it would go ahead with the $2.1 billion float of its bakery and spreads business Goodman Fielder.
Virgin Blue added 7c to $1.67 after it launched Velocity, its frequent-flyer program.
Rival Qantas lost 4c to $3.68.
AWB fell 4c to $5.29. The wheat exporter is facing a month-long suspension from a US government credit program over the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.
Media stocks were mixed with John Fairfax up 4c to $4.06 while PBL eased 16c to $16.59.
In retail, Coles Myer fell 2c to $9.95 while David Jones rose 2c to $2.46 and Woolworths shed 11c to $17.17.
Gold stocks were mixed with Newmont Mining dropping 5c to $5.97, Newcrest fell 14c to $19.42 and Lihir Gold rose 1c to $2.06.
Wealth management firm Count Financial, up 3.5c to $1.85, says it expects a minimum 30 per cent increase in earnings this year to $21.3 million.