THE Australian sharemarket closed lower today following weak offshore leads. At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had fallen 41.7 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 4611.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had dropped 36.5 points (0.78 per cent) to 4643.0 points. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index futures contract was down 58 points at 4613 points, on 25,805 contracts, according to preliminary calculations. CMC Markets market analyst David Taylor said the local bourse was restrained after mixed-to-weak leads from offshore and little in the way of positive news. Investors had shown interest in the healthcare sector after news broke of a takeover offer for Healthscope, a major private hospitals operator and pathology provider. Mr Taylor said sovereign debt fears in Europe appeared to have largely subsided despite not yet being resolved. He said the market would focus on economic data from the US tonight and next week, including figures on industrial production, retail sales, manufacturing, inflation and housing starts. “The international environment has held down a little bit and the markets are getting nervous about some of the economic data coming out of the US tonight, but I think it's just Friday jitters rather than anything else,” Mr Taylor said. Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was down $1.23 at $53.71, Westpac retreated 39 cents to $24.89, ANZ dumped 48c at $22.81 and National Australia Bank descended 58c to $25.37. In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was off 18c at $38.64 and Rio Tinto slid 29c to $68.00. Takeover target DMC Mining nudged up 1c to 53c as it advised its shareholders not to take action in relation to Cape Lambert Resources’ improved $43.3 million offer. DMC also said it was in talks with a Chinese party about a rival bid. Gindalbie Metals was 10c weaker at $1.06 as it secured $175m under key components of a capital raising to help fund the development of its $2 billion Karara iron ore mine in Western Australia. Mirabela Nickel was steady at $2.41 as it posted a $25.17m net loss for the three months to March 31. Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum sagged 1c to $44.80 and Santos retreated 3c to $13.12. On Wall Street overnight, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 113.96 points (1.05 per cent) to 10,782.95 points.

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