Local investors stay cautious

THE Australian share market closed lower yesterday, with investor caution and a weak Wall Street lead robbing the local bourse of momentum.

The benchmark ASX 200 index shed 21.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to close at 6278.4 points while the broader All Ordinaries was down 22.7 points, also 0.4 per cent, at 6368.8 points.

The ASX 200 ended last week above 6300 points for the first time in more than 10 years.

Telstra was one of the few bright points in yesterday’s trading, lifting 1.8 per cent to $2.81 after announcing a shake-up of its senior executive ranks.

Shaw and Partners senior private client adviser Craig Sidney said trading was quiet and turnover light across the market as investors await the start of the local earnings season, particularly after a negative lead from the US on Friday night.

Ardent Leisure slipped 3 per cent to $1.95 as the owner of the Dreamworld theme park on Queensland’s Gold Coast flagged a full-year loss of $84 million to $94 million.

Mining giant BHP fell 0.6 per cent to $34.19 on the high likelihood of a labour strike at its Escondida mine in Chile.

Rio Tinto dropped 1.1 per cent to $80.45 ahead of kicking off the Australian corporate earnings season with its half-year results tomorrow.

In financial stocks, the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ led the losses, down 0.6 and 0.5 per cent at $74.90 and $29.32 respectively.

In contrast, wealth manager AMP closed over 4 per cent higher at $3.44, regaining much of its losses from Friday when it flagged the financial impact from the banking royal commission.