Market closes lower after global slide in price of oil
The Australian share market has closed lower following a global slide in the price of oil and lower commodity prices.
The All Ordinaries index closed down five points at 5,493, while the ASX 200 was two points lower at 5,518.
Shares in energy companies were down across the board.
Santos and Oil Search fell 2 per cent and Woodside Petroleum lost almost 1 per cent.
The big mining companies also lost ground amid falling commodity prices.
BHP Billiton lost 0.5 per cent and Rio Tinto was off 0.3 per cent.
Atlas Iron was felt the effects of a drop in iron ore prices, with its share price dropping than 8 per cent.
Financial sector stocks eked out a small bounce.
Commonwealth Bank led the way, putting on 1 per cent after announcing a near 10 per cent rise in first quarter cash profits.
Westpac and ANZ also rose and National Australia Bank lost 0.5 per cent.
After falling for the past few days, Woolworths rallied up 2.5 per cent on the day.
Transfield Services jumped 2 per cent after raising its full-year profits guidance ahead of its annual general meeting in Sydney.
It also said it was in discussions about a new takeover proposal.
Building products maker CSR rose almost 3 per cent to $3.60 after lifting its first-half profit.
At the close of trade, the Australian dollar was buying 87.26 US cents, 69.51 Euro cents, 54.49 British pence and 99.52 Japanese Yen.
West Texas intermediate crude oil was trading at $US77.10 a barrel and Tapis crude oil in Singapore was worth $US84.64 a barrel.
Spot gold was trading at $US1,155 an ounce.
