The Australian sharemarket ended the financial year with a seventh straight daily loss owing to weaker-than-expected economic data from China and the United States.
The major indices hit their lowest points since August last year in early trade but recovered some ground.
The S&P/ASX200 index was down 44.2 points, or
1.02 per cent, at 4301.5 points, after hitting a low of 4249.5. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 45.8 points, or 1.05 per cent, at 4324.8, after a low of 4273.2.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September futures contract was 54 points lower at 4284 points, on volume of 35,185 contracts.
The falls came after a negative lead from Wall St and European markets, which dropped because of a downwards revision of China's economic activity and the steepest fall in US consumer confidence since February.
Resources stocks suffered as base metal prices fell. Among the major miners, Rio Tinto lost A$1.76, or 2.57 per cent, to A$66.66, BHP Billiton dropped 45c, or 1.18 per cent, to A$37.65, Fortescue Metals shed 19c to A$4.12 and Mount Gibson Iron fell by 6.5c to A$1.55.
The major banks regained most of their early losses. National Australia Bank lost 12c to A$23.28, Westpac shed 2c to A$21.23, ANZ dropped 26c to A$21.61 and Commonwealth ended 74c lower at A$48.64.
One sector to buck the trend was utilities. Origin Energy gained 18c to A$14.94, AGL Energy added 33c to A$14.70 and gas distributor APA Group put on 4c to A$3.60.
The gains might be linked to speculation the coal seam gas sector would be a winner in a compromise on the super profits tax, said David Taylor from CMC Markets. "That's more of an energy play than a utilities play, but there could be some companies under that utilities sector that have coal seam gas exposure which would obviously be affected," he said.
Energy stocks were mixed, with Woodside Petroleum down 73c at A$41.84, Oil Search off 6c at A$5.53 and Santos up 1c to A$12.60.
- AAP
