Aussie shares finished underwater today, following on from a poor night on overseas markets.

A majority of sectors closed in front, with the biggest exceptions being materials and energy, which both weighed on the market.

The banking majors were mixed; NAB was the best performing of the group, up 0.2%, whilst rival WBC ended up down 0.3%.

The big miners finished in the red amid weaker commodity prices; BHP declined 1% whilst Rio Tinto let go of 0.3%.

Energy stocks disappointed as crude inventories rose in the US, which lent credence to the idea that the country could release its strategic reserves in order to lower global oil prices.

Woodside and Santos dropped 1.3%, and 0.3%, respectively.

Beach Energy ended 5.1% lower after it successfully completed the institutional component of its capital raising.

Leighton Holdings plummeted 6.7% after slashing its full year profit guidance by 25%-38%.

The ASX 200 shed six points (-0.1%) to close at 4338.

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Evening Market Analysis: Soft Close is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog