Local stocks pulled back slightly today, but still mirrored the weakness of Wall Street as the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 10 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 4,681.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had eased 5.9 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 4,740.3 points.

According to Morrison Securities, the Australian share closed marginally lower as investors took profits and squared positions ahead of US jobs numbers.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was five points lower at 4,696 points, with 19,878 contracts traded. Mining stocks were mixed, with Alumina among the few stand outs after it said it had received $US41 million in dividends from its AWAC joint venture with Alcoa.

Financial stocks were the weakest, the financial sector losing 0.4pct due to weakness from the big four. Shares in Westpac (WBC) lost 0.5pct to $23.18 while the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) shed 0.7pct to $51.12 and the NAB (NAB) dropped 0.4pct to $25.75. Shares in the ANZ (ANZ) lost 0.3pct to $24.07 while Macquarie Group (MQG) was down 2pct to $35.90.

Miners fared better, with BHP Billiton (BHP) increasing by 0.1pct to $41 and Rio Tinto (RIO) a touch higher at $79.55. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) added 4.9pct to $5.80. Gold miner Newcrest Mining (NCM) pulled back in line with a fall in the gold price, closing at $41.91, a loss of 1pct.

Elsewhere on the market, Telstra (TLS) shares were higher, up 0.8pct to $2.66 while Harvey Norman (HVN) fell 3.6pct to $3.72..