The S&P/ASX 200 lost 7.6 points to close at 5109 with most sectors posting negative movement including basic materials which lost 0.1% on the session.

The index bottomed at 5086 points mid-afternoon before levelling off to finish 0.1% lower than yesterday.

Meanwhile, a positive turnaround from resources companies and another record overnight session for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were not enough to lift the wider market as the All Ordinaries fell 0.1% to 5123 points.

The major miners held on, with BHP Billiton unchanged at $A35.82 and Rio Tinto edging out a 0.1% gain to close at $63.23.

Newcrest Mining ticked down 0.2% to finish at $21.58 while Fortescue Metals Group shed 2.2% to $4.40.

Trading coincided with a report by Bloomberg that iron ore is posed for a further decline over the rest of the year as global supply increases and Chinese restocking slows.

The report projected a drop from $142 to $130 per tonne over the course of 2013.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said today that the country’s trade deficit for January was twice as wide as predicted, with Australian imports on the month exceeding exports by $1.1 billion.

More economic gloom came in the form of an ABS study that found the number of discouraged job seekers increased 18% since 2011.

The Australian dollar was trading at $US1.0249 as uncertainty loomed over the trade deficit’s influence on possible interest rate cuts and a possible downgrade in the European Central Bank’s economic outlook.

Other resource companies to post notable performances were Perseus Mining with a 4.7% gain to $A1.67 and AngloGold Ashanti gaining 4.4% to $4.77.

Endeavour Mining improved 7.2% to close at $1.57, while Sirius Resources cooled a hot streak to record a still formidable 2.8% increase to $4.03.