Aussie shares finished underwater today, after soft leads from international markets overnight.

In economic news, the RBA released its quarterly monetary policy statement in which it cut its underlying inflation forecast by 0.25%, to 2% for the year to the end of June.

The central bank also cut its GDP growth forecasts by 0.75%, to 2.75% over the same period.

The RBA said that weaker global conditions hit exports and restricted wage growth keeps prices in check.

The sectors closed mostly in red; IT, telcos and consumer staples were the only exceptions.

The banking majors weighed on the market; ANZ was the clear underperformer of the group, dropping 0.9%.

The big miners finished in the red after commodity prices were hit hard overnight; BHP declined 0.6% whilst Rio Tinto let go of 1.1%.

Qantas slipped 1.2% despite releasing a strategy update in which it said that it will reduce capital expenditure in 2012/13 by a further $400 million.

The ASX 200 shed 33 points (-0.8%) to close at 4396.

In spite of today's losses the market was up 0.8% for the week.

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Evening Market Analysis: Soft Day, Solid Week is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog