THE share market has opened lower following a weak finish on Wall Street on Friday.
At 10.15am (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 18.7 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 4547.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 19 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 4567.3 points.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index contract was 15 points lower at 4514 points, with 10,320 contracts traded.
There were about six stocks down for every one that had managed a gain in early trade, with the big retail banks mostly lower.
ANZ was down 15c at $22.90, CBA slipped 15c to $52.44 and Westpac declined 11c to $23.51.
NAB was not trading halt after announcing that the competition regulator would seek market consultation on its proposal to sell a wealth management platform in order to gain approval of its offer to buy AXA Asia Pacific.
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NAB last traded at $25.03, while AXA, also in a trading halt, was at $5.21.
At 10.20am, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank had slipped 5c or 0.6 per cent, to $8.22 after the company reported a 189.5 per cent rise in full-year net profit.
Cash profit of $291 million in 2009/10 was in line with market expectations.
On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.20 per cent, the S&P500 slipped 0.37 per cent and the Nasdaq ended down 0.20 per cent. Oil slipped below $US81 a barrel.
The big miners were up at 10.37am. Rio Tinto was 35c higher at $73.55 and Fortescue had risen 5c to $4.54.
BHP Billiton was up 1c at $41.14.
CMC Markets head of trading James Foulsham said it had been a reasonably subdued start to the trading day.
"There's not a great deal of movement either way," Mr Foulsham said.
"Most of the sectors are down slightly, but not very much."
One stock showing early volatility was retailer JB Hi-Fi, which reported a 26 per cent lift in net profit in 2009/10 and expected sales to rise 17 per cent in 2010/11.
JB Hi-Fi traded between a low of $19.03 and $19.48 in the opening 37 minutes of today's session and at 10.37am was down 18c, or 0.92 per cent at $19.37.
"There is a lot of toing and froing there. We are seeing a lot of our clients getting in and out of that one," Mr Foulsham said, referring to JB Hi-Fi.
Retailers were mixed.
Harvey Norman was down 4c at $3.41, while department store chains Myer and David Jones were both down 1c at $3.47 and $4.71, respectively.
But Coles owner Wesfarmers was up 3c at $31.56 and Woolworths was up 7c at $26.51.
Healthier Ford will again pay chairmanRetailers struggle as stocks down at noon
