PERTH: The Australian share market was flat at noon, giving investors some hope of a breather after six consecutive days of losses.
Traders might have come to a consensus that prices had fallen far enough and would wait for further developments before committing, said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.
“It is interesting because stocks have actually held fairly steady both here and in the US despite the process resuming last night of bond yields rising.”
Among the banks, Westpac had lost 20 cents to $31.15, Commonwealth Bank had fallen 13 cents to $79.69, ANZ shed seven cents to $31.09 but National Australia Bank advanced 12 cents to $31.72.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton found 13.5 cents at $27.735, Rio Tinto was down 44 cents at $55.93 and Fortescue Metals dipped four cents to $2.35.
The energy sector did better after overnight rises in the oil price, with Woodside up 66 cents at $36.26, and Santos nine cents higher at $8.09.
Woolworths was up two cents at $27.13 after it announced plans to invest more than $650 million in new stores and infrastructure and add more than 2,000 staff to its Victorian workforce over the next three years.
Airline Qantas declined three cents to $3.21 after it said it will begin direct flights between Sydney and San Francisco six days a week from December under an expanded co-operation agreement with American Airlines.
On Wednesday at 1220 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 1.3 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 5,470 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index was down 1.3 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 5,478.4 points.
The June share price index futures contract was seven points higher at 5,469 points, with 15,298 contracts traded.
National turnover was 304.6 million securities worth $666.8 million.
