Australian markets

The Australian share market ended the week with a flat result as a production downgrade from energy major Woodside put an end to a positive morning session. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 5.7 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 4,484.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 4.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4,551.1 points.

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On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was nine points higher at 4,478 points, with 38,026 contracts traded. Better than expected reports on home building and jobs in the United States saw Wall Street's Dow Jones index make a little ground, which saw an improvement in early trade in sentiment among local traders.

Woodside's announcement that it was again delaying the first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Pluto project in Western Australia, and also downgrading full year production targets, saw it and other resource stocks fall back. Woodside shares lost $1.61, or 3.8 per cent, to $40.80, and other energy stocks also fell, with Santos down 21 cents to $13.38 and Oil Search down eight cents to $6.65. After being in positive territory earlier in the session, BHP ended five cents lower at $41.95 and Rio Tinto shed 58 cents to $77.82. Fortescue gained four cents to $6.06. For the week, the S&P/ASX200 was down 1.7 per cent, and the All Ordinaries lost 1.8 per cent.

Shares suffered a sharp drop on Thursday, with the market losing almost two per cent to hit a nine-month low, on Greece's debt woes and further weak economic data out of the United States. The healthcare sector was the best performer on Friday, led by CSL, which gained 31 cents to $32.46, Resmed added eight cents to $2.95 and Ramsay Health Care lifted 40 cents to $18.31. Most banks and financials also made up ground, with Commonwealth Bank rising by 26 cents to $49.52, Westpac gaining 11 cents to $21.21, and National Australia Bank adding 10 cents to $24.36. ANZ Banking Group lost one cent to $21.34. Preliminary national turnover was 3.04 billion securities worth $6.67 billion, with 534 stocks up, 568 down and 425 unchanged.

The Australian dollar continued to trade near three week lows late Friday as attention remained fixed on events in Greece amid efforts to restore political stability to the country, which is battling to avoid default on what most analysts describe as an unsustainable debt burden. The Australian dollar was trading at $1.0529, down from $1.0535 late Thursday. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar was at 84.89, down from 85.175.

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