PERTH: The Australian sharemarket pared earlier losses to trade flat at noon, as recent volatility appeared to be fading.
At 12.05pm (AEST), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index had declined 4.7 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 5090.3, while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 4.3 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 5112.7.
Earlier the market ticked as low as 5053.7 points, a loss of around 0.8 per cent.
The local market has swung wildly throughout the week, largely due to investor jitters ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s impending rate hike, adding nearly four per cent Tuesday and Wednesday before diving 2.5 per cent yesterday.
This morning’s soft open in Australia followed half-a-percentage point gains on Wall Street, after the markets reversed losses earlier in the day, and came despite 3 to 4 per cent improvements in oil prices overnight.
