SYDNEY, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Australian market has fallen back from last week's 21 month high as some disappointing profit results stifled investors confidence.
At the close of trade Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 10.70 basis points or 0.18 percent at 5,795.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 10.50 basis points or 0.18 percent at 5,840.50.
"Today it was a case where gains in a handful of stocks and sectors was insufficient to offset more substantial losses from some companies releasing their profit results," Commsec market analyst Steven Daghlian told Xinhua.
But the mood wasn't all bad for traders, with some positivity still remaining in the market ahead of a busy earnings season this week.
"It's only the third time in 10 days the market has been down, so we have had a strong run in the last fortnight or so," Daghlian said.
The Commonwealth Bank added 0.61 percent, National Australia bank dipped 0.03 percent, Westpac lifted 0.71 percent and ANZ rose 0.31 percent.
Rio Tinto dropped 0.22 percent, BHP Billiton lost 0.64 percent, Fortescue Metals climbed 1.15 percent and Newcrest was flat at 0.00 percent.
Woodside Petroleum lost 0.98 percent, Santos fell 1.50 percent and Oil Search was down 1.67 percent.
Wesfarmers slid 1.74 percent, while Woolworths edged higher at 0.04 percent.
Qantas was flat at 0.00, Telstra also flat at 0.00 and CSL finished lower at 0.39 percent.
