Qantas leads Aust share market lower The Australian share market is trading lower, marked by the dramatic descent of national airline Qantas, which flagged a big financial loss and widespread job cuts. Qantas on Thursday flagged a half-year pre-tax loss of $250 million to $300 million, and said it will axe 1,000 jobs. At 1200 AEDT, Qantas shares were 17.5 cents or 14.52 per cent, lower at $1.03, with 39.7 million shares changing hands. The Australian market overall was weaker following overnight falls on overseas markets. Weakness among the major banks outweighed stronger resources stocks, which benefited from higher commodity prices and the lower Australian dollar. OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said iron ore miners were doing particularly well. "So, there's a little bit of momentum in that area of the market, but unfortunately none of the other sectors are doing the heavy lifting," he said. Certainly, the banks are weighing us down. Mr Le Brun said industrial stocks were being pulled down on the back of the announcement by Qantas. "They (Qantas) have gone cap in hand to the government for a fairer playing field for them," he said. The writing is always on the wall when you get companies that go to the government asking for assistance. Among the four major banks, Westpac was off 40 cents at $31.95, Commonwealth sagged 42 cents to $76.38, ANZ retreated 20 cents to $31.56, and National Australia Bank dumped 38 cents at $34.00. Global mining giant BHP Billiton rose 29 cents to $37.09, rival Rio Tinto lifted 39 cents to $66.68, and Fortescue added seven cents at $5.70. Blood products and vaccines developer CSL was down 12 cents at $68.20 as it granted United States firm Janssen Biotech a licence to develop and commercialise CSL's treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). At 1205 AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 25.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, lower at 5,248.6 points. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 22.9 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 5,244.6 points. The December share price index futures contract was 23 points lower at 5,254 points, with 13,828 contracts traded. National turnover was 764.5 million securities worth $1.53 billion.