Australian Stock Market Report –Afternoon December 12, 2014

Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann (R) and Medibank Managing Director George Savvides ring the Australian Stock Exchange Bell to begin trading of Medibank stock in Sydney November 25, 2014. Australian health insurer Medibank Private Ltd, which raised $4.9 billion in Asia's biggest IPO in two years, had a strong stock market debut on Tuesday as investors sought exposure to the country's booming health industry. Reuters/Jason Reed

Market retreats for a fourth day

 The Australian sharemarket has closed weaker, with investors cautious ahead of the release of a raft of Chinese economic data, including retail sales and industrial production for the month of November. The ASX 200 slipped 0.2 percent to 5,219. Today's falls takes this week's losses to 2.2 percent.

 The Energy sector was the best performer, recovering some recent losses after days of heavy selling - climbing 1.6 percent. Santos (STO) improved by 2.3 percent to $7.16, while Woodside Petroleum (WPL) gained 1.2 percent to $34.60.

 The Materials sector was the biggest drag, losing 1.4 percent. BHP Billiton (BHP) lost 1.9 percent to $28.46.

 Banking stocks managed to recover some earlier losses to finish down 0.1 percent. Westpac (WBC), which held its AGM today, lost 0.6 percent to $32.05.

 Leighton Holdings (LEI) finished down 0.7 percent to $21.56, after announcing it will sell its John Holland subsidiary to Chinese contracting and services firm to CCCC International for around $1.15 billion. CCCC International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, one of the world's largest builders.

 Crown Resorts (CWN) closed unchanged at $13.10. The company said today it plans to build a five-star hotel across the road from its Melbourne casino. Crown has agreed to an initial investment of $50 million to be part of the joint development of the project with Schiavello Group, which controls the land in Melbourne's Southbank district.

 In economic news, total lending finance fell by 0.3 percent in October, after rising by 0.9 percent in September. Total lending stood at $66.5 billion, up 11.7 per cent on a year ago. The average credit card balance rose by $7.20 (0.2 percent) to $3,173.60 in October. The average credit card balance was up 0.1 percent on a year ago. Usage of credit limits was 35.4 per cent - a near 13-year low.

 The Australian dollar is weaker against the greenback, buying 82.74 US cents.

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