The Australian share market has opened flat as investors exercise caution until they get a clearer picture of how Greece’s debt situation will unfold.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 and All Ordinaries seesawed between positive and negative territory in early trade.
“Everyone is hoping that we can put Greece to rest after Friday, but it just continues,” IG market strategist Stan Shamu said.
Eurozone ministers have agreed to extend Greece’s bailout by four months, but Greece is still to outline what economic reforms it is willing to undertake.
Mr Shamu also said company earnings reports out on Monday were mixed, and the market had recently run upward pretty hard.
In the resources sector at 1024 AEDT, global miner BHP Billiton was down 26 cents at $32.04, Rio Tinto scraped one cent at $63.74, and Fortescue Metals nudged up one cent to $2.46.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was 22 cents richer at $90.43, National Australia Bank added three cents to $37.51, ANZ found five cents at $34.86, and Westpac dipped two cents to $37.61.
Pallet and container provider Brambles fell 39 cents to $10.33 as it reaffirmed its full year profit guidance after the stronger US dollar crimped the company’s first half profit.
Global construction group Lend Lease climbed 12 cents to $16.97 after it lifted its first half profit by 25 per cent.
Steelmaker BlueScope fell 53 cents to $5.02 as it re-introduced dividend payments for shareholders after lifting first half profit.
Drilling company Boart Longyear lifted one cent to 21 cents after it halved its full year loss to $US333 million.
Engineering Group UGL dropped 21 cents to $1.75 after it suffered a first half loss due to one-off writedowns and provisions.
Mining services provider Macmahon Holdings lost 2.1 cents, or 37.5 per cent, to 3.5 cents. Macmahon announced late on Friday that its mining services contract at the Christmas Creek expansion project in Western Australia would conclude in April.
The flat start to trading in Australia came after Wall St and European markets posted gains on Friday.
KEY FACTS
* At 1034 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 11.2 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 5,870.3 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 9.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 5,836.3 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was 14 points lower at 5,831 points, with 7,724 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 340.8 million securities worth $476.9 million.
