After a modest 0.5 pct gain last week, the Australian sharemarket is pulling back at lunch with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 1.56 pct or 74.9 pts to 4732.8. All sectors are trading in the red with the financials the worst after 2.5 hours of trade.

The four big banks are down between 1.5 pct and 2.8 pct, with National Australia Bank (NAB) the worst. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is doing better than most yet is down 1.44 pct or 76 cents to $51.41, Westpac (WBC) is down 2.73 pct or 62 cents to $22.14 and ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is 2.68 pct or 61 cents lower to $22.18.

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Despite slightly stronger commodity prices on Friday, our miners are being hit hard, with BHP Billiton (BHP) down 1.34 pct or 59 cents to $43.46 and RIO Tinto (RIO) down 1.38 pct or $1.11 to $79.09.

The defensives are not escaping today’s selloff, with the healthcare sector down 1.22 pct at lunch. Primary Healthcare (PRY) is one of the exceptions after receiving a broker upgrade. PRY is a service company to medical and healthcare professionals. PRY shares are up 1.43 pct or 5 cents to $3.55.

Australia’s largest telecommunications company, Telstra (TLS) has been one of the outperformers recently and has gained 17 pct over the past two months. Today however, TLS shares are down 0.99 pct or 3 cents to $3.01.

Following the end of daylight savings in April this year, major Asian markets will be trading between the hours mentioned below until mid October.

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now be opening for trade between 11.30am (AEST) and 2pm (AEST) and then between 3.30pm (AEST) and 6pm (AEST) in its second session.

Out of Japan, the first session will be between 10am (AEST) and 12pm (AEST), while the second session is between 1.30pm (AEST) and 4pm (AEST).

The Singapore exchange will be open for trade between 11am (AEST) and 2.30pm (AEST) for the first session and then between 4pm (AEST) and 7pm (AEST) in its second session.

Sharemarkets in the Asian region are lower, with South Korea’s KOSPI index the worst, down 1.68 pct or 35.46 pts to 2076.04, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is 1.33 pct or 127.9 pts lower to 9479.18, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has fallen by 1.22 pct or 284.07 pts to 22915.32 and the Philippines Composite index is one of the few to be trading higher by a very modest 0.03 pct or 1.37 pts to 4286.53.

No major economic data is scheduled for release in Australia apart from the latest data on petrol prices which is published each Monday.

So far today, 1.39 billion shares have been traded worth $2.26 billion. 277 shares are up, 677 are lower and 384 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar currently buys US105.8 cents.

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