Local stocks eased from five month highs today, due to a flat lead from Wall Street and selling in the Asian region. The Chinese share market, which has risen 7pct in three sessions, dropped in early trade on reports the country has lifted reserve requirements for six large commercial banks in order to slow the pace of the economy. And Japan's share market also fell into the red as a strong Japanese Yen hampered sentiment. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 75.8pts or 1.6pct to 4686.3 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) was off by 79.3pts or 1.7pct to 4618.2.

After outperforming the market yesterday, the materials sector today lost 2.2pct. BHP Billiton (BHP) dropped 1.7pct to $40.74 while Rio Tinto (RIO) was lower by 2.8pct to $77.87. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) shed 4pct to $6 after rising nearly 8pct yesterday on the completion of a debt restructure. The Comes gold price eased to US$1350 an ounce during Asian trade. Shares in Newcrest Mining (NCM) today fell 3pct to $40.88.

The financial sector lost 1.6pct. Shares in Westpac (WBC) fell 2.2pct to $22.66 while the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) dropped 1.3pct to $50.45 and the NAB (NAB) closed down 1.7pct to $25.36. Shares in the ANZ (ANZ) lost 1.4pct to $23.82 and Macquarie Group (MQG) fell 2pct to $34.66.

A weaker oil price took away from the energy sector. At 4pm AEST the Nymex contract was down a further 0.7pct to US$81.65 a barrel. Shares in Woodside Petroleum (WPL) closed lower by 2pct to $44.04 while Santos (STO) was down 0.9pct to $12.80 and Oilsearch (OSH) lost 0.8pct to $6.20. Caltex (CTX) bucked the trend, rising 0.3pct to $11.66.

After a positive start, defensive stocks were also sold off. Telstra (TLS) closed lower by 1.1pct to $2.65 while Wesfarmers (WES) closed down 2.1pct to $32.91.

Among the consumer discretionary stocks, shares in Harvey Norman (HVN) lost 2.5pct to $3.59 and Myer Limited (MYR) was down 1.3pct to $3.80.

In economic data, the NAB business confidence index eased from +11.2 to +10.1 in September. The business conditions index rose from +4.5 in August to +6.7 in September, only the second rise in six months. Retail prices fell at a 0.2pct quarterly rate in September.

The average credit card balance stood at a $3,253.70 in August, down $14.80 on July. The average credit card balance is up just 3.8pct on a year earlier, the slowest annual growth in six months.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade at US97.83c, £0.6154 and €70.6c.

On the market overall, a total of 2.61 billion shares were traded, worth $4.9 billion. 402 were up, 733 were down and 354 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index (SPI) futures contract was at 4634, down 81pts.

Ahead tonight, the US Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its most recent policy-setting meeting. After the closing bell, chipmaker Intel will report its third-quarter results.