Strong finish to poor week for shares Despite rallying on Friday, the Australian share market closed the week lower as an annual general meeting season continued to be characterised by soft earnings growth. Speculation about when the United States will start to withdraw its record levels of stimulus - and what effect this will have on the exchange rate - continued. The S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.2 per cent for the week to close at 5335.9 points. On ­Friday, the index recovered 47.6 points, or 0.9 per cent off a positive lead from the United States where the Dow Jones closed above 1600 points for the first time following the release of better than expected employment data. On Friday the All Ordinaries gained 46 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 5330.3. For the week, it was down 65.88 points, or 1.2 per cent. "The biggest concern for Australian equities is that domestic company earnings growth is lagging other markets," Allan Gray Australia portfolio manager Simon Marais said. A lower dollar would probably help. On Thursday evening, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens repeated his belief the dollar is overvalued, adding he remains open minded about intervening in the currency market. At Friday's local close the dollar was buying US91.77¢, down from US93.44¢ at the previous week's close. On Wednesday, outgoing chair of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke reminded market-watchers that even once the central bank starts reducing the value of its monthly asset purchases interest rates will stay at zero for a long time. Over the past five sessions, Telstra lost 2.1 per cent to $5.06, while all of the big four banks retreated. Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.7 per cent to $76.49. ANZ declined 1.9 per cent at $31.68, while Westpac lost 1.5 per cent to $32.50 and National Australia Bank shed 1.1 per cent to $33.92. The biggest miner, BHP Billiton, dipped 0.1 per cent to $37.83. On Thursday, chief executive Andrew Mackenzie told shareholders he is increasingly confident in the long term plan to make potash "the fifth pillar" of the business. Rio Tinto fell 0.4 per cent to $65.28 as the spot price for iron ore, landed in China, eased to $US136.30 per tonne. On Friday, chairman Jan du Plessis said the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum document contained "many positive signals" indicating continued strong demand for Australia's resource exports. Goldminers dominated the worst-performing stocks as the spot price for the precious metal dropped to $US1244.01 per ounce at Friday's local close. Perseus Mining was the hardest hit, down 25.6 per cent at 29¢. Energy stocks were mostly lower for the week despite the Brent crude oil price rising to Wesfarmers, owner of Coles, fell 0.4 per cent at $44.04, while Woolworths lost 0.6 per cent at $33.77. Department store chain David Jones finished the week 3.9 per cent lower at $2.96. On Friday shareholders delivered a first strike against the executive remuneration report. "The most notable theme of this AGM season has been the groundswell of shareholder disgruntlement, particularly about executive pay," said Mr Marais. Ten Network was the best-performing stock, rising 0.9 per cent to 29.5 cents over the week after adding 9.3 per cent on Friday. On Thursday industry watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, said it was unlikely to object if News Corp made a takeover offer for Ten.