The Australian market ended slightly in red today, after a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.

In local economic news, the Westpac Consumer Sentiment index showed confidence had slumped 8.3% in December, confounding some economist expiations of a rise.

Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said that while the drop was surprising it is not unprecedented for a fall in sentiment after a rate cut.

Mr Evans noted the likely explanation centred on concerns over the reasons behind the rate cut may overwhelm the perceived benefit of the cut itself.

The banks were mixed; ANZ put on 1.1%, whilst rival WBC lost 0.1% after flagging tough conditions ahead at its AGM.

The big miners had varying results; BHP declined 0.3%, while Rio Tinto climbed 0.6% after it said it has no plans take over Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines.

In other mining news, Kagara crashed 11.8% after it announced it had completed a capital raising at $0.31. The stock closed the session at $0.30 cents.

The ASX 200 shed three points (-0.1%) to close the day at 4191.

Click to Receive FREE Trading Recommendations!

Evening Market Analysis: Flat Finish is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog