The Australian sharemarket pulled back slightly throughout the afternoon however still finished stronger for the second time this week. The ASX 200 index rose 36.8pts or 0.8pct to 4684.9, with gains from both the miners and financials helping to boost the market's overall performance.

Our largest miners finished the day off stronger with both RIO Tinto (RIO) and BHP Billiton (BHP) gaining more than 1pct. Australia's largest gold producer, Newcrest Mining (NCM) finished flat after holding its annual general meeting (AGM) today and announcing that its gold production for this current year is in line with expectations.

The retailers finished mostly higher with shopping centre owner, Westfield (WDC) gaining 2.38pct or 29cents to $12.50 after the company reopened part of its Pitt Street Mall redevelopment in Sydney today. Specialty retailer, Harvey Norman (HVN) was one of the few to finish in the red with its first quarter pretax profit falling 31pct to $77.7 million.

Australia's largest Telco, Telstra (TLS) announced that they are planning to cut close to 1000 jobs mainly from middle management and executive roles to increase the company's efficiency and 'streamline' the business model. TLS has said that they are committed to improving customer service despite the job cuts. TLS finished the day 1.12pct or 3cents stronger to $2.71. TLS shares are still 17pct weaker today than they were at the start of August 2010.

Australia's largest travel agent, Flight Centre (FLT) fell 0.35pct or 8cents to $22.78 after holding its AGM today and announcing that they are on track to reach the full year (FY) profit target of between $220 to $240 million. Both the UK and Australian markets are the company's most lucrative.

It was a quiet day on the economic front, however data on consumer prices showed that there are more goods falling in price today than at any other time over the past decade. Commsec's Chief Economist, Craig James said that "...while there has never been a better time for consumers, retailers are struggling with the unfamiliar environment of deflation. Wages and rents are creeping higher at the same time that electricity and gas rates are soaring. Ordinarily higher costs would be putting upward pressure on selling prices, but savvy and conservative consumers are forcing retailers to trim prices and margins."

The Australian dollar has gained throughout the session and currently buys US97.67c.

Volume of shares traded came in at 2.47 billion shares worth $5.87 billion. 584 shares were up, 526 finished weaker and 390 ended unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index futures contract (SPI) is up 0.15pct or 7pts to 4689.

Dow Jones futures are currently pointing to a flat start tonight when the U.S markets open at 12.30am (AEDT)

In the US, weekly jobless claims data is released. Exxon Mobil releases earnings data.