Shares drift lower on home loans data

The stockmarket drifted lower in light trade yesterday with rising home loan approvals and political uncertainty helping to dampen the mood.
Macquarie Equities private client adviser David Halliday said the release of data showing record home loan approvals in May, which prompted talk of a further interest rate rise, had carved about 15 points off the indices.
He said the battle between Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello had also been a factor.
"Whilst there is no major impact directly to the market, markets hate uncertainty," he said.
The ASX200 index dropped 35.6 points to 5107.2 while the All Ordinaries slipped 31.5 to 5071.4.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index contract ended down 47 points at 5100 on volume of 11,910.
The big mining stocks lost ground with BHP Billiton falling 16c to $28.93 and Rio Tinto tumbling 96c to $77.25.
The top four banks were also weaker, with Westpac sinking 38c to $22.53, NAB falling 49c to $35.78, the Commonwealth declining 35c to $45.20 and ANZ losing 14c to $26.70.
Media companies were among the few stocks making gains after Communications Minister Helen Coonan said federal cabinet had made a decision on media reform and a formal announcement was due later this week.
News Corp climbed 15c to $26.85 and its non-voters 5c to $25.55, PBL rose 7c to $18.23 and Fairfax firmed 1c to $3.80.
Uranium developer Paladin Resources sagged 19c to $4.39 after announcing a friendly takeover offer for explorer Valhalla Uranium, which shot up 17c to $1.39.
OFM Investment raced ahead 14c to $2.40 after the property-based fund manager acquired private property funds manager Century Funds Management for $42.4 million.
Macquarie Bank slipped 50c to $67.52 after Macquarie Mortgages announced it had acquired Canadian mortgage broker Cervus Financial Corp for $C12.5 million ($15 million).
Retailers were weaker with Woolworths falling 15c to $20.04 while rival Coles Myer fell 20c to $11.99.
Telstra defied the market gloom to climb 6c to $3.84 and was the top traded stock of the day with 27.10 million shares worth $103.77 million changing hands.
The spot price of gold in Sydney ended down $US1.40 on Monday night's close at $US627.25 per fine ounce.
Gold stocks backtracked with Newcrest sliding 24c to $20.42, Lihir declining 3c to $3.02 and Kingsgate down 17c at $4.90.
Oils too were weaker. Woodside was down 46c to $45.66, Santos 16c to $12.29 and Hardman 2c to $1.795. Oil Search was up 2c to $4.20 on talk of an Indian connection.
Market turnover was 959.98 million shares worth $3.51 billion with 493 stocks rising, 561 falling and 317 unchanged.