Australian stocks: Hit from short term profit taking

MELBOURNE - The Australian stock market fell away to end in negative territory today after touching new intraday highs.

At the 1615 AEDT close, the S&P/ASX200 was down 14.8 points at 4816.7 after reaching a new intraday high of 4837.8, just passing the previous high of 4834.8 set during trade yesterday.

The all ordinaries also set a new intraday record of 4781.9, beating yesterday's record of 4778.7, but ended the day at 4761.7, down 14.1 points.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange the March share price index contract lost 18 points to 4805 on a volume of 9,614.

Shaw Stockbroking head dealer Jamie Spiteri said short-term profit taking drove the market to its weaker close.

"The market had a very strong day yesterday and as we hit these record highs this morning short-term profit taking kicked in," Mr Spiteri said.

The local market's decline came despite action in the US overnight, where Wall Street rallied to its highest levels for four and a half years with car maker General Motors leading the way after broker upgrades.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.59 points to 11,011.9, the first time it has been higher than 11,000 since June 13, 2001.

The S&P500 firmed 4.7 points to 1290.15 and the tech-laced Nasdaq was up 13.07 points to 2318.69.

The big resource stocks did not escape the downturn with Rio Tinto losing $1.03 to $69.15 and BHP Billiton reversing 21 cents to $23.85.

"The resource stocks have been the catalyst behind the market's strength in recent days," Mr Spiteri said.

Oil and gas producer Woodside gave back five cents to $40.68.

In retail, Rebel Sports reported a 13.5 per cent increase in sales revenue to $183.9 million for the half year to December 31, 2005.

The sportswear and sporting goods group was steady at $2.94.

Coles Myer firmed three cents to $10.64 while supermarket rival Woolworths retreated eight cents to $16.84.

Banks were mostly up with National Australia Bank the exception, losing four cents to $32.53.

The Commonwealth Bank added 13 cents to $43.28, ANZ gained six cents to $24.40 and Westpac nudged a one cent higher to $23.05.

- AAP