Australian shares slipped in afternoon trading with the benchmark ASX 200 closing down 20.6 points, or 0.4%, to 5,390.5 today after reaching a high of 5,430.5 points this morning.
Investors are cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s November policy meeting on Tuesday though the central bank is expected to keep rates at record lows of 2.25%.
Miners
The Materials index was relatively insulated from the dip, shedding just 1.1 points to 9,973.2.
Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) dipped an almost unnoticeable $0.01, or 0.03%, to $37.52 while Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) put on $0.18, or 0.28%, to $63.72.
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) jumped up $0.16, or 3.1%, to close at $5.32 while Newcrest (ASX: NCM) gained $0.06, or 0.6%, to $10.
Atlas Iron (ASX: AGO) put on $0.055, or 5.42%, to $1.07 while Iluka Resources shed $0.09, or 0.89%, to $10.03.
Financials
Three of the four major banks were in negative territory with Westpac (ASX: WBC) dropping $0.42, or 1.22%, to $34.16 despite reporting a 8% increase in cash profit to $7.09 billion on concerns it is losing out to its peers in residential mortgages.
ANZ Bank (ASX: ANZ) was down $0.21, or 0.62%, to close at $33.51 while National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) slipped $0.20, or 0.56%, to $35.43.
Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) was the only major bank to make gains today, rising $0.30, or 0.4%, to $76.10.
Second tier banks were mostly down with Suncorp (ASX: SUN) dipping $0.01, or 0.08%, to $13.30, Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) shedding $0.03, or 0.25%, to $12.22 and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) unchanged at $10.79.
Investment bank Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) put on $0.80, or 1.51%, to $53.90.
Juniors
King River Copper (ASX:KRC) was among the early gainers touching $0.26, before it closed at $0.20, up 5.2% for the day. International Coal (ASX:ICX) was also stronger up 13.0% to $0.13 while Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN) was up 4.3% to $0.024.
Asian Stocks
Asian markets were sluggish today as investors remained cautious ahead of central bank meetings in Europe and key U.S. payrolls data.
The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.12% to 23,221.81 points while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index is up 0.08% to 2,151.38 points.
The Nikkei was closed for a holiday.
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