THE Australian share market has opened lower after a weak lead from Wall Street overnight and mixed commodity prices.
At 10.15am AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 25.3 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 4,673.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 22.8 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 4,743.1 points.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 26 points at 4,684 points, with 7,219 contracts traded.
At 10.17am AEDT, the banks were weaker. ANZ was down 25 cents at $23.75, CBA was down 35 cents, or 0.68 per cent, at $50.85, NAB was 26 cents lower at $25.42, while Westpac fell 23 cents to $22.88.
US stocks made back almost all their earlier losses and closed slightly lower overnight, ending a four-day winning streak.
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The Dow had fallen as much as 70 points on concerns about the foreclosure practices at major banks including JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.The banks, which are being investigated by state attorneys-general, have suspended foreclosures while they review whether they were complying with the law when they foreclosed on delinquent mortgages.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.51 points, by 0.01 per cent, to 11,094.57. The Standard and Poor's 500 index fell 4.29, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,173.81, while the Nasdaq composite lost 5.85 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,435.38.
Macquarie Private Wealth adviser Helen Spencer said the market was weaker after a "lacklustre" lead from offshore overnight.
"The banks are retreating after yesterday's strong gains, and we're also seeing some mixed results on the resources sector on the back of those mixed commodity prices overnight," Ms Spencer said.
"After the recent gains... it's not surprising at all to see a bit of a breather here this morning, and I think all eyes will be on how Asia performs this afternoon to influence how we close the day."
At 10.44am AEDT, the major miners were mixed. BHP Billiton was down 24 cents, or 0.58 per cent, at $41.42, while Rio Tinto was 24 cents higher at $82.32.
Ms Spencer said Rio was performing well following positive reports yesterday saying the miner experienced record production of iron ore as well as alumina and coking coal during the September quarter.
Fortescue Metals was five cents lower at $6.33.
In market news today, Cockatoo Coal said it has completed a capital raising in which it sought $150.8 million.
Cockatoo said it had "successfully completed" the second component of the offer, involving a bookbuild in which it issued 33.4 million shares at 51 cents.
Shares in Cockatoo at 10.51am AEDT were steady at 53.5 cents.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,379.50 per fine ounce, up ten cents from Thursday's local close of $US1,379.40.
At 10.53am AEDT, the most traded stock by volume was Future Corporation, with 96.04 million shares worth $192,076 thousand changing hands.
Shares in the telecommunication service were down 0.1 cent, or 33.33 per cent, at 0.2 cent.
Market turnover was 653.21 million securities worth $917.68 million, with 346 stocks up, 429 down and 325 unchanged.
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