SYDNEY, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market has closed in the red, dragged lower by resource sector amid another flurry of mixed company earnings results.
At the close on Thursday, the S&P ASX/200 index was down 19.8 points, or 0.36 percent, at 5,541.9 points and the All Ordinaries was down 22.2 points, or 0.39 percent, at 5,631.4 points.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Xinhua a weak U.S share market was the main reason for a lower close at the Aussie index on Thursday.
"Apart from that, there was a general selling in the four banks but Woolworths actually had a strong day despite (posting a) loss because the underlying results were better, as signs of the supermarket starting to stabilize its sales brought relief to investors," said Spooner.
At the close, ANZ was down 0.81 percent, the National Australia Bank fell 0.75 percent, Westpac declined 1.27 percent, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped 0.62 percent.
BHP Billiton plunged at 1.82 percent, rival Rio Tinto retreated 1.45 percent while gold miner Newcrest tumbled 2.67 percent.
Oil Search sank 3.31 percent, Santos lost 2.20 percent while Woodside Petroleum surged 1.39 percent.
Wesfarmers soared 2.42 percent while rival Woolworths increased 3.92 percent.
Qantas slumped 2.61 percent while telecommunication giant Telstra's fell 0.94 percent at Thursday's close.
