Australian shares retreated today, as sellers moved in following the impressive gains made during yesterday's trade. Regulatory and political hurdles facing the merger between the Australian Stock Exchange and Singapore Exchange also dampened investor sentiment. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 19pts or 0.4pct to 4761.5 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) eased by 22.2pts or 0.5pct to 4687.8.

Shares in ASX Limited (ASX) fell 7.4pct to $38.67, after reaching a higher of $40.87.

Financial stocks in general were weaker. The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) held its annual general meeting, with CEO Ralph Norris giving a positive outlook for the medium term, but also indicating funding costs remain high. CBA shares fell 1.5pct to $40.18 while shares in the NAB (NAB) eased by 1pct to $24.75 ahead of the release of its FY earnings tomorrow. The ANZ (ANZ) which reports HY results on Thursday, eased by 0.2pct to $23.85. Westpac (WBC), which announced the acquisition of St George Bank netted it a tax consolidation of $685 million, fell 0.5pct to $22.84. Macquarie Group, which added more than 4pct yesterday, eased by 0.9pct to $34.66.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN) announced it would be buying the remaining 40pct of Rural Bank from Elders (ELD) it doesn't already own in a deal worth $176 million, including a special dividend to ELD. BEN shares fell 1.2pct to $9.01 while ELD was up 4.5pct to $0.695.

Mining stocks were mixed on the back of firmer commodity prices with the materials sector closing flat. Index leader BHP Billiton (BHP) added 0.2pct to $41.83 while Rio Tinto (RIO) ended slightly lower at $84.06. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) added 0.5pct to $6.58.

Telstra (TLS) shares added 0.8pct to $2.66.

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) CEO Terry Davis told investors today the company cannot see the benefit of buying Foster's Group (FGL) beer business. FGL held its AGM with its share price rising 0.5pct to $6.16 while CCL shares eased by 2.2pct to $12.34.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade at US99.23c, €0.6302 and £71c.

On the market overall, a total of 3.05 billion shares were traded, worth $5.3 billion. 542 were up, 606 were down and 365 were unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEDT on the ASX24, formerly the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index (SPI) futures contract was at 4690, down 29pts.

Ahead tonight, consumer confidence and home price data are released.