Profits taken as profits dwindle

The stock exchange fell back through the 6000-point level yesterday as a torrid reporting season begins to wind down, coupled with a negative lead from Wall Street.
The ASX 200 index lost 50.2 points to 5993.8, while the All Ordinaries was 44.3 points weaker at 5977.6.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange the March share price index contract was down 49 points to 5998 on a volume of 22,775 contracts.
Austock Brokers senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the market had been operating at breakneck speed since the start of the new year and was now heading for a breather.
"This pattern will probably continue for the next few months as a lot of stocks go ex dividend, and that tends to weigh on the market," Mr Heffernan said.
He said the market had run out of "blockbuster" companies to announce their results so "there was no petrol coming from company reports".
Woolworths got a 54c boost to $26.74 as it lifted its annual earnings guidance after a 28 per cent increase in first-half profit.
Rival supermarket retailer Coles, whose board is considering a sale of the business, gave up 6c to $15.62.
Harvey Norman, which delivers its first-half result today, picked up 5c to $4.41.
BHP Billiton, which has risen about $5 over the past month, shed 47c to $28.85. Rio Tinto lost 50c to $79.61 but Zinifex added 20c to $17.90.
News Corp improved 5c to $31.50 and its non-voting scrip firmed 10c to $29.92.
Publishing & Broadcasting dipped 10c to $19.82, and Fairfax Mediafell 5c to $4.86.
Telstra pulled back 6c to $4.33 and its instalment receipts weakened 5c to $2.89.
The major banks contributed to the weaker bourse, with all four losing ground, led by the CBA's 65c drop to $50.66. NAB fell 47c to $40.68, ANZ 32c to $29.72 and Westpac 16c to $26.
Newcrest soared $1.32 to $23.87 as its chief executive, Ian Smith, said copper and gold prices would remain strong over the next 18 months. The big goldminer posted a first half net profit of $37 million, down from $74.2 million in the corresponding period but profit after tax before a hedging restructure gained 5 per cent to $84 million.
Other golds did not fare as well, with Lihir losing 11c to $3.46 and Newmont steady at $5.94. Junior explorer Jervois Mining was the most traded stock, with 185.67 million shares changing hands worth $6.3 million.
The company's shares slipped 0.7c to 3.2c.