The Australian market lost ground today, following a negative session on EU and US markets overnight. A clear majority of the sectors finished in negative territory with IT and property the hardest hit.

Healthcare, telcos and utilities stocks were segments which managed decent gains. The big four banks finished mixed; NAB added 0.3%, Westpac lost 0.3% while CBA and ANZ both closed flat.

The mining majors were weaker after commodity prices pulled back in the overnight session. BHP and Rio Tinto dropped 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.

Fortescue surged 17.1% after the group struck a deal to refinance all of its existing bank facilities in order to provide it with additional liquidity and stave off looming debt repayments.

Also in the materials space, New Hope Corporation soared 8.9% after reporting an underlying net profit of $171.1 million, a 16% rise on the previous corresponding period.

The ASX 200 shed eight points (-0.2%) to close at 4395.

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