Australian shares closed down 1.2 percent on Thursday, reversing half of Wednesday's rally on worries about Europe's lingering debt crisis and poor Christmas sales for local retailers, even after two interest rate cuts. Dealers and analysts said they expected the market to remain under pressure over the next few weeks, with attention focused squarely on Europe as there would be little economic data over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
"The volatility's here to stay," said Savanth Sebastian, equities economist at Commonwealth Securities. In Australia, retailers raised more alarm bells. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gave up 48.7 points to close at 4,090.8. The benchmark rose 2.1 percent on Wednesday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.5 percent, closing at 3,207.2. Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both fell more than 1 percent, while the big four banks ended flat to down 1.4 percent.
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