Australian share market closes lower | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

Street's losses on the back of weaker than expected US housing data. "I'd say it was an excellent performance, given that Wall Street was down," he said. "But it's not entirely surprising given the strength of practically every indicator we've got. "It was a good market today, a relative outperformance." BHP Billiton lost eight cents to $39.83 and Rio Tinto dropped 20 cents to $66.60. BHP reported record quarterly iron ore output driven by improved performance at its Western Australian operations, but flagged softer Chinese demand for commodities for the rest of calendar 2009 following recent stockpiling. IG Markets research analyst Ben Potter said the miner's outlook seemed at odds with some economists' predictions. "Given the recent strong import data out of China and a rosier than expected GDP number due for release tomorrow, BHP Billiton's comments that it is yet to see evidence of sustainable demand for metals emerging is slightly puzzling," he said. Among banking stocks, NAB fell 10 cents to $31.20, Commonwealth Bank dropped 47 cents to $54.43, Westpac lost 11 cents to $26.37 and ANZ gained five cents to $23.84. Making news, Qantas says the global economic outlook remains uncertain but it sees some encouraging signs for the economy and no further deterioration in its business. The carrier also defended its executive remuneration and indicated it will reject calls for its budget arm Jetstar Asia to cease flight services to Burma. Qantas shares closed steady at $2.99, while rival Virgin Blue gained 4.5 cents, or 8.82 per cent, to 55.5 cents. Brewer Fosters Group said its first quarter results were in line with expectations as beers sales continued to grow but the company still faced challenges in its wine division. Its shares were steady at $5.56. Telstra shares gained seven cents to $3.19 as the federal opposition called for a delay of parliament's consideration of government legislation to pave the way for the break-up of the telco. On the Sydney Futures Exchange at 16:25 (AEDT), the December share price index contract was one point lower at 4844 on a volume of 16,534 contracts.