The Australian share market has opened lower despite a positive start for the mining and energy sectors.
The Australian share market has opened lower despite a positive start for the mining and energy sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34.2 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 6,606.3 points at 1030 AEST on Thursday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 29.8 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 6,686.3.
All sectors other than mining, energy and telecommunications - which was flat - lost ground following a largely negative overnight session in the US.
Property trusts slumped 2.44 per cent, leading the losses, as shares across the sector traded ex-dividend.
The big four banks were all lower, with ANZ down 0.23 per cent to $28.085, Commonwealth down 0.18 per cent to $82.04, NAB down 0.60 per cent to $26.54, and Westpac down 0.21 per cent to $27.98.
But energy shares collectively climbed 0.36 per cent after oil prices gained more than two per cent overnight.
Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy were up between 0.20 per cent and 0.98 per cent.
Mining giant BHP was up 0.41 per cent to $41.33 after another rise in iron ore prices, with Rio Tinto up 0.63 per cent to $103.81, and Fortescue Metals up 2.18 per cent to $8.89.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.04 per cent, the S&P 500 was down 0.12 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.32 per cent.
The Aussie dollar is buying 69.88 US cents from 69.75 US cents on Wednesday.
