PERTH: The Australian sharemarket pared earlier losses at noon after the Reserve Bank of Australia left open the door for more rate cuts.
At 12.05pm (AEST), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was down 2.3 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 5,656.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 1.8 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,658.2.
This morning, minutes released from the RBA’s May board meeting, where it trimmed the official cash rate to 2 per cent, showed the bank was open to the option of lowering the cash rate further.
The sharemarket rallied on the back of the news, paring earlier losses, while the Australian dollar fell slightly after the announcement.
Earlier, the benchmark index hit an intraday low down 0.85 per cent, having lost 48 points before the RBA minutes were released.
Elsewhere, the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey climbed to its highest point since November, after last week’s well received Federal Budget.
Mining stocks were soft, however, after a losing streak in the price of iron ore gathered momentum in offshore trade overnight. The commodity fell for a fifth day, in the heaviest decline since April 29, pushing the price under $US60 a tonne.
