The Australian share market ended lower on Tuesday, 3 March 2015, as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprise decision to keep interest rates on hold triggered profit booking across the board, with shares of bullion, utilities, mining, property trusts and financials being major losers. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 25 points, or 0.42%, to 5933.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index was down 23.40 points, or 0.39%, to 5902.90. Market turnover was relatively strong, with 1.85 billion shares changing hands worth of A$5.89 billion. Rising stocks underneath declining ones, with total of 610 stocks up, while remaining 774 down.
Australia's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 2.25% on Tuesday to avoid stoking an overheating housing market that risks derailing a fragile economic recovery. Still, the Reserve Bank of Australia left open the option of further interest rate cuts this year as China's recent weakening hurts the resource-rich economy.
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