澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-10-02（在线收听）

The local share market reversed early gains to close flat today after being dragged lower by financial stocks. The All Ordinaries Index closed down just two points and the ASX 200 lost four. The big four banks all finished lower. Westpac lost almost 2 per cent, but Telstra put on almost 1 per cent. Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei closed about a third of a percent higher.

Checking commodities and gold is lower 1,309 US dollars an ounce, but oil is on the rise. And the Australian dollar is buying just over 96.5 US cents, and many investors actually expect it to rise past parity with the greenback.

And the recent surge in the Australian dollar has led to a fall in manufacturing for the first time this year. The Australian Industry Group's Performance of Manufacturing Index fell almost 4.5 points in September to 47.3. And that's the first time it's fallen below the critical 50-point level in 2010, and it indicates a contraction in activity. 

Meanwhile, borrowers are being warned to brace for the banks to lift their interest rates by more than any official increase. The Reserve Bank is broadly expected to lift rates by a quarter of a percentage point when it meets on Tuesday. But the banks may put up their rates by more than that. They've complained that the higher cost of funding their loan is squeezing their profit margins.