MARKET Closing
(4.30pm AEDT)

The Australian sharemarket completely wiped out the modest gains recorded yesterday, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling 0.4 pct or 15.6 pts to 4365.6. On Monday, the XAO rose by 16 pts.

David Jones (DJS) remained in a trading halt for the second straight day due to media speculation of a large drop in credit card sales. This means investors cannot buy or sell DJS shares until it resumes trade. Tomorrow, the retailer will be releasing its latest profit results and is expected to resume trading by then. DJS shares have improved by around 15 pct this calendar year.

Telstra (TLS) fell 0.62 pct or 2 cents to $3.21 today. Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecom has confirmed that some jobs could be in the firing line. It has not confirmed an exact number of jobs to be targeted.

The miners kicked off the session a little higher but could not hang onto gains for the duration of the session. Rio Tinto (RIO) fell 0.36 pct or 24 cents to $65.61 while the larger BHP Billiton (BHP) eased 0.11 pct or 4 cents to $35.31.

Three of the four major banks lost ground, with National Australia Bank (NAB) the only bank to rise slightly. NAB rose 0.21 pct or 5 cents to $24.20. ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) fell 0.18 pct or 4 cents to $22.53, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) lost 0.27 pct or 13 cents to $48.90 and Westpac (WBC) eased 0.09 pct or 2 cents to $21.20.

On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the minutes from its latest interest rate meeting earlier in the day. The minutes showed signs that the central bank is modestly optimistic about the state of the economy. They said that while major downside risks still remain, the chance of a very bad outcome for global markets has lessened.

Commsec Economist, Savanth Sebastian said that "The Reserve Bank tend to be forward looking and it is interesting that in recent speeches by officials and even more so in these minutes the focus is now shifting to the challenges that the Australian economy is likely to face. And front and centre is the significant structural adjustment that is taking place across the economy. It is clear that the Reserve Bank is focused on ensuring that the Australian economy is able to deal with the structural shift that is taking place as a result of the "very high terms of trade" and "accompanying high exchange rate".

When it comes to interest rates, the RBA still seems open to the idea of cutting rates, but is waiting for some key data to be released first. Mr Sebastian said that "The Reserve Bank does not seem to be done when it comes to cutting interest rates; rather it seems more likely that policymakers are being more strategic in the timing of any future rate cuts. The next batch of inflation data (in late April) is likely to give central bank authorities a better picture of the inflation landscape."

No major economic news was released in the region today; however markets in South Korea, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong are all trading a little lower. The Japanese sharemarket was closed due a public holiday in the world's third largest economy.

In Europe last night, major markets ended slightly weaker and eased from an 8-month high. The German market fell for the first time in nine sessions and still had its best winning streak since May last year.

In the U.K, Consumer Inflation (CPI) will be out at 8.30pm (AEDT). The market is expecting a slight fall in inflation to take place. Consumer inflation is basically the change in prices of goods bought by consumers over a specific period of time. Central banks have the task of keeping inflation under control.

So far this year, Apple share have been doing wonders for investor portfolios and have jumped by 48 pct since the start of 2012. Sales of the new iPad3 have topped 3 million units so far, making it Apple's best iPad release to date. It also announced it will be paying its first dividend in over 15 years and will be conducting a US$10 billion buyback. Apple has US$92 billion of cash.

Tonight, more housing data is scheduled for release. Housing starts and a building permit report will be issued overnight.

Volume of shares traded came in at 1.99 billion today, worth $4.64 billion. 430 shares were up, 586 were weaker and 426 ended unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the ASX24 futures contract is up 0.09 pct or 4 pts to 4288.

Due to daylight savings, most major European markets are now trading between 7pm (AEDT) and 3.30am (AEDT). Futures in Europe are pointing to a slightly weaker start to trade tonight.

Dow Futures are currently flat; indicating that U.S stocks could open unchanged. Due to daylight savings taking place in the second week of March in North America, U.S markets will now be trading between 12.30am (AEDT) and 7am (AEDT).

Turning to currencies, the Australian dollar (AUD) buys US105.8 cents, which is lower than at this time yesterday. The AUD is currently trading at £66.6 pence and €79.9 cents.