Australian share market closes the week down as mining stocks plummet

The Australian share market dipped in late trade on Friday, to close slightly down, after weak performances in the mining and banking sectors.

At close of trade, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 23.8 points, or 0.42 percent, to finish at 5621.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index also struggled, down 23.9 points, or 0.42 percent, finishing at 5672.5 points.

Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG told Xinhua, the mining sector suffered massive blows today, reflecting 21 of the 23 points lost on the ASX.

"We've seen a really big move, down in iron ore futures, steel futures and coking coal futures, with outside forces taking a bit of liquidity out of the market," Weston said.

"Commodity stocks have been slammed, and mining stock have been hit pretty hard in Australia."

Weston also noted that the financial sector took a hit, but there was really a "sell mining exposure" mentality in the market today.

The banks suffered losses today, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.4 percent, the National Australia Bank was just a touch lower, down 0.03 percent, ANZ Bank struggled today, down 0.95 percent, while Westpac had an off day, down 0.37 percent.

The mining sector was hammered in trade today, with BHP Billiton dropping 3.11 percent, Rio Tinto also suffered, down 3.96 percent, while Newcrest Metals managed to buck the trend, to post a solid 1.04 percent gain.

Santos finished with no change, Oil Search dropped sharply, down 1.29 percent, and Woodside Petroleum also closed with a loss, down 1.49 percent.

Australia's national airline Qantas nose-dived, down 1.52 percent, while telco giant Telstra ended the day strong, up 0.99 percent.

Grocery giant Woolworths performed well, up 0.4 percent, while rivals Wesfarmers slid today, down 0.22 percent.

At 1632 local time AEDT on Friday, the Australian dollar buys 76.51 U.S. cents. Endit