The broader market had a lacklustre session following another bearish lead from Wall Street. The S&P-ASX 200 index closed at 4701.1 points, down 42.5 points, while the All Ordinaries dipped 37.3 points to 4702 points.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29.9 points to 9712.28 points on concerns over the US economic outlook after latest data revealed a larger than expected plunge in private sector payrolls.
There was further profit taking among the major miners with BHP Billiton shedding 53c to $37.20, while rival Rio Tinto fell 34c to $58.90.
Trade Minister Simon Crean reportedly told ABC Radio that despite being detained by Chinese authorities since July 5, Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu was in “good spirits”.
Crean added that the government would continue to call for a quick conclusion to the case and for Chinese authorities “to be more transparent in their dealings with these sorts of issues”
Hu and three other Rio Tinto iron ore employees, who are Chinese citizens, have been detained since July 5, accused of corporate espionage and bribery.
Meanwhile, rare earths hopeful Lynas Corporation witnessed its share price fall more than 30% in today’s trade after coming out of a trading halt.
Lynas is currently seeking to raise a total of $450 million after China Nonferrous Metal Mining last week called off its proposed $500 million funding deal with the company.
Today, the company announced it had raised $285 million from the institutional component of the raising.
Lynas closed at 68c, down 22c.
The impact of yesterday’s news that Fortescue Metal Group missed a September 30 deadline for a $US6 billion financing deal carried through into today’s session with the iron ore miner dropping another 14c to close at $3.68.
It was a positive session on the London Metal Exchange overnight with copper gaining 3.1% to $US6147.50 per tonne, while zinc jumped 4.7% to $1943.25/t and nickel added 4.5% to $17,819/t.
However, analysts have warned that the outlook for base metals remains mixed, with volatility expected over the next quarter.
"The concerns for demand from China, coupled with mixed data being released from the US, makes for a challenging market,” an unnamed trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
Meanwhile, gold moved back above $1000 per ounce overnight on a weaker US dollar. At 4:10pm AEST, spot gold was trading $2.17 lower at $1005.25/oz.
Gold’s strong performance despite better than expected US economic data has led analysts to believe there may be further rises for the precious metal.
One unnamed senior trader told Dow Jones Newswires that he expected gold to be in the range of $1100-1200/oz by year-end.
The bulk of precious metal stocks had a positive session on the bourse. Newcrest Mining gained A68c to close at $32.58, Lihir Gold added 9c to $2.89 and AngloGold Ashanti jumped 67c to $9.68.
Finally, Newmont Mining gained 5c to close at $5.01 after announcing first gold had been poured at the massive Boddington gold mine in Western Australia.
Once the mine hits its straps later this year, it is expected to produce around 1 million ounces of gold a year for the first five years at a cash cost of $US300 an ounce.
