The sharemarket closed lower today, dragged down by the four big banks.
At the close of trade, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 25.5 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5092.4.
The All Ordinaries index was down 24.2 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 5104.4.
Falls among financial stocks came despite some gains in the materials sector, with the big miners finishing strongly.
RBS Morgans Private client adviser Bruce Smith said the local market was pulled down by the poor performance of the nation's major retail banks.
"The reason for that is there's a pretty strong perception now that the banks are fully valued or overvalued and it's a dangerous time to be continuing with the yield play," he said.
UBS and Deutsche Bank have declared the Australian banking sector overpriced.
Mr Smith said investors were beginning to look back to the resources sector, which had recently been the laggard.
Adding to the pain among the financial stocks, National Australia Bank shares fell 59c to $30.95 after it announced plans to simplify its business and remove complexity and duplication.
ANZ fell 57c to $28.48, Commonwealth Bank fell $1.20 to $69.38 and Westpac fell 66c to $30.50.
The mining giants all closed higher.
BHP Billiton rose 24c to $35.91 and Rio Tinto rose 18c to $62.10.
In other news Qantas shares rose 3.5c to $1.745 after it said a possible strike by hundreds of security screeners at Melbourne Airport over Easter would not have an impact on flights.
The March share price index futures contract was 23 points lower at 5091, with 38,729 contracts traded.
National turnover was 1.6 billion securities worth $4.9 billion.
