Down, darn it, and big miners to blame

The stockmarket closed the day in negative territory, the big miners to blame.
The ASX200 index closed down 1.5 points at 5465.2 while the All Ordinaries was down 3 at 5450.6.
Traders on the Sydney Futures Exchange were glummer, the December share price index contract finishing 11 points below the physical at 5454.
CMC Markets senior dealer James Foulsham said the big miners were dragging the index down, thanks to weaker commodity prices, but a solid banking sector was keeping the market stable.
"It has been a pretty flat day, there wasn't much leading into the day and the market has also quietened down for Christmas," Mr Foulsham said.
"It is mainly BHP and some of the mining stocks like Zinifex, which are dragging the index down.
"The banks are reasonably strong and are keeping things relatively stable."
Mr Foulsham said weaker commodity prices, particularly a drop in copper, were hitting the miners.
BHP Billiton lost 31c to $26.40 while rival Rio Tinto shed 67c to $77.13. Zinifex gave up 23c to $17.64.
The US provided a weak lead, the Dow Jones industrial average having lost 22.35 points to close at 12,309.25.
The banks were mixed with National Australia Bank gaining 25c to $39.10, Westpac rising 15c to $23.85, the Commonwealth picking up 46c to $47.11 and ANZ losing 6c to $27.81.
Diversified industrial group Wesfarmers added 43c to $35.48 after announcing the acquisition of New Zealand broking group Crombie Lockwood.
Drugs distributor and pharmacies retailer Australian Pharmaceutical Industries lost 13c to $2.36 after it said it expected to post a $7 million loss for the first half.
As a result, Sigma Pharmaceuticals fell 10c to $2.76 after saying it was continuing takeover talks with API but its offer price would be lowered.
Agricultural chemicals producer Nufarm rose 50c to $9.82 after it said it was sticking to its annual profit guidance, despite the drought.
Investment firm Babcock and Brown and real estate investor GPT said they had shelved a planned venture to set up a listed European retail property fund.
B&B fell 49c to $23.51, and GPT fell 14c to $4.91.
The energy sector was mixed following a dip in the oil price. Woodside was up 10c to $38.29, Santos rose 6c to $9.97 and Oil Search fell a penny to $3.34.
The retailing sector was mixed with Woolworths gaining 25c to $21.70, Coles falling 2c to $13.39, Harvey Norman losing 3cs to $3.80 and David Jones down a penny at $3.85.
Media was also mixed with PBL gaining 20c to $20.70, Fairfax down again, off 13c at $4.92, News Corp shedding 5c to end at $27.81 and the non-voters down 18c to $26.50.
The goldminers followed the gold price down, Newmont losing 9c to $5.88, Newcrest 68c to $24.90 and Lihir 11c to $3.13.
Explorer turned "transportation solutions" expert SmartTrans soared 2.4c to 4.2c, on volume of 19.4 million, after giving Zinifex an up to $10 million farm-in on its land next door to Century.