The Australian share market has picked up as investors rebound from the sell-off on Monday and a poor start on Tuesday.

Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said trading at noon on Tuesday looked healthier than it did at the start of the session.

“It’s the rubber ball effect,” he said.

“We’ve been down, and we’ve just bounced up a bit from the drubbing that we’ve had in the last few days.”

Mr Heffernan said overseas markets were not providing much drive.

Chinese manufacturing figures released on Tuesday were slightly better than expected.

Mr Heffernan said the local bourse would probably drift until the major banks deliver their financial reports in a few weeks.

In the resources sector, some of the big miners lifted despite the iron ore prices dropping to a new low of $79.80.

At 1208 AEST, Rio Tinto had firmed 1.5 cents to $60.065, BHP Billiton lost 25 cents to $34.61, and Fortescue Metals lifted seven cents to $3.65.

Among the big four banks, the Commonwealth Bank was up 37 cents at $76.82, ANZ rose 17 cents to $31.38, Westpac edged up one cent to $32.41, and National Australia Bank added 13 cents to $33.23.

Internet provider TPG Telecom advanced 31 cents to $6.91 after the company said it expected to grow earnings 25 per cent over the next year.

Agricultural chemicals and seeds provider Nufarm climbed 44 cents, or 10.92 per cent, to $4.47 after it said it was confident of lifting underlying earnings, despite a 53 per cent slide in its net profit due to restructuring costs.

Adventure clothing retailer Kathmandu shed 12 cents to $2.75 after a 4.6 per cent slide in its net profit.

KEY FACTS

* At 1219 AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 5.3 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,368.3 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up three points, or 0.06 per cent, at 5,371.2 points.

* The December share price index futures contract was up four points at 5,364 points, with 16,230 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 782.7 million securities worth $1.86 billion.