SYDNEY, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Aussie market opened lower early on Thursday.
At the open, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 32.6 points, or 0.59 percent, at 5,511.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 29.4 points, or 0.52 percent, at 5,598.8 points.
Oil is continuing its slide toward the 40 U.S. dollar per barrel level after U.S. crude inventories increased for their third consecutive week, though there was some drawdown in refined petroleum products, IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said.
"But the issue is that the margins for refiners may have collapsed so much that they have simply stopped producing and now we could be about to start seeing much bigger increases in crude oil inventories again as the refined oil product market has become completely saturated," Nicholson said.
Alarmingly, OPEC's monthly production report showed a further increase in July to extend the supply-demand imbalance.
"Oil is increasingly looking like it may want to retest its 39 U.S. dollar lows that it touched at the start of August... (but) many in the markets are concerned that the shorts may even be looking for prices to drop down towards the 35 U.S. dollar level," Nicholson said.
In early trade Oil Search slipped 0.20 percent, Santos dropped 1.50 percent while Woodside Petroleum shed 1.02 percent.
Financials were also under pressure on a second day of sell offs on fears of slowing credit markets, with ANZ down 0.67 percent, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia slumping 2.18 percent, the National Australia Bank sliding 0.86 percent and Westpac 2.01 percent weaker.
BHP Billiton fell 0.98 percent, rival Rio Tinto slumped 2.12 percent and gold miner Newcrest 1.18 percent lower.
Woolworths edged 0.06 percent lower however rival Wesfarmers rallied 0.88 percent.
Qantas gained 0.32 percent in early trade, however telecom giant Telstra fell 1.88 percent.
