Australian shares have closed marginally down after a spike in the price of iron ore that boosted mining companies couldn&apos;t make up for losses elsewhere.
"It&apos;s one of these days, the market seems pretty much directionless, swinging between gains and losses," said CommSec market analyst James Tao.
Mr Tao said the numbers weren&apos;t bad and called the size of the drop disproportionate.