The Australian share market closed in negative territory on broad-based losses as the impact of the strong local currency on forthcoming corporate earnings results weighed on investors. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 40.7 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 4,784.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 41.5 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 4,854.7 points. On the ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was 34 points lower at 4,785 points with 34,026 contracts traded.

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BHP Billiton was down 65 cents, or 1.41 per cent, at $45.50, while fellow mining giant Rio Tinto backtracked 61 cents, or 0.74 per cent, to $82.11. Among energy firms, Woodside was down 48 cents at $45.85, Santos retreated 23 cents, or 1.51 per cent, to $14.96 and Oil Search was off nine cents, or 1.27 per cent, at $6.97. ANZ Banking Group, the first of three major banks to report this week, increased first half profit by 38 per cent to a record $2.664 billion, while warning the operating environment remained challenging. ANZ finished down 50 cents, or 12.06 per cent, at $23.80, Commonwealth gave up 39 cents to $53.36, National Australia Bank was 22 cents cheaper at $27.05 and Westpac eased five cents to $24.73.

Making headlines on Tuesday, shares in Fairfax Media dropped after it forecast a fall in revenue and earnings, and outsourced subediting for its largest mastheads. Fairfax was the worst performing stock on the S&P/ASX 100 index, down 10.5 cents, or 8.02 per cent, at $1.205. The best performing stock on that index was OneSteel, up seven cents, or 3.37 per cent, at $2.15. Gaming machine supplier Aristocrat Leisure says it still expects its full year operating profit will be 10 to 20 per cent higher than in 2010 despite the rising value of the Australian dollar. Aristocrat shares were steady at $2.73. The price of spot gold in Sydney was $1,546.80 per fine ounce, down $8.25 from Monday's local close of $1,555.05 per fine ounce. Australia's largest gold miner Newcrest was down 62 cents, or 1.51 per cent, at $40.54. Preliminary national turnover was 2.6 billion shares, worth $5.28 billion, with 360 shares up, 831 down and 333 unchanged.

A more balanced monthly policy statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia than had been expected resulted in the Australian dollar trading softer in Asia Tuesday as dealers sensed a rate hike may not be imminent after all. But the central bank made clear after again holding its cash rate steady at 4.75% that while there are soft patches in the economy, it will carefully watch coming data, prompting some economists to predict a rate hike is still on the cards. Despite this, the local currency was softer after the RBA left its cash rate steady. The Australian dollar was changing hands at $1.0918, down from $1.0954 late Monday. Against the yen, it was at 88.24, down from 89.10.

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