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April 16th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Posted
The share market recovered some ground late in today’s session after heavy falls on Wall Street saw it open 0.8 per cent lower.
The All Ordinaries closed down 23 points to 4,944 while the ASX 200 index lost 0.3 per cent to 4,951.
Mining stocks started the day on a bad note after falls in commodity prices overnight but staged a comeback in afternoon trade.
BHP Billiton finished the session 0.5 per cent lower, while Rio Tinto closed 0.2 per cent in the red after releasing its March quarter production report.
The mining giant saw record iron ore production in the period of more than 61 million tonnes, while shipments for the steelmaking commodity rose 7 per cent to 57 million tonnes.
The gold price recovered after a steep 9 per cent fall overnight but gold stocks continued to suffer on the market today.
Newcrest extended yesterday’s losses and closed down more than 5 per cent, while Oceanagold lost 8.5 per cent.
Stocks viewed as less exposed to global risks saw a boost, with Telstra rising 0.9 per cent.
Meanwhile the Reserve Bank kept hopes of another interest rate cut alive in its April board meeting.
The RBA says last year’s rate cuts are starting to flow through to the retail and housing sectors but risks to the economy remain.
It warns the high Australian dollar, a slowdown in mining investment and cuts in government spending could still hurt growth.
Concerns about lower-than-expected economic growth in China saw oil prices slide.
Around 5pm (AEST) West Texas crude was trading at a four-month low of $US88.75 a barrel while Tapis crude was fetching just shy of $US105 a barrel.
Commodities-related currencies suffered severe setbacks overnight as investors fled to the US dollar.
By close the Australian dollar had rebounded about 0.5 per cent against the greenback and was buying 103.73 US cents.
It was also fetching 67.75 British pence and 101.2 Japanese yen.
Topics:
stockmarket,
markets,
business-economics-and-finance,
currency,
australia
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-16/share-market-wrap-tuesday/4633270
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