The Australian share market has opened flat following a mixed session on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones finished slightly lower overnight after a session of mixed corporate earnings and a fall in family house sales.

The S&P 500 closed less than one point higher but it was enough to secure a record high for the second session in a row.

CommSec market analyst Juliana Roadley said the Australian market had opened mostly lower on Friday.

“It looks like the banks and the insurers are a bit stronger while the rest of the market is sort of down today,” she said.

“I just think at the moment everyone is waiting to see what comes through at reporting season… and there’s not that much information around.”

She said some local transport stocks with close links to mining could suffer after industrial giant Caterpillar lost 3.1 per cent in the US.

The Resource sector was down, with BHP losing 14 cents to $38.92, Rio Tinto dipping five cents to $65.20 while Fortescue lost 2.5 cents to $45.45.

The big banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank adding 20 cents to $82.21, Westpac up 12 cents to $34.25 and ANZ gaining 10 cents to $33.68.

NAB bucked the trend, down one cent to 34.48.

Telstra was down 1.5 cents to $5.47.

KEY FACTS

* On Friday at 1030 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 4.5 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 5,583.3 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index fell 3.7 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 5,573.1 points.

* The September share price index futures contract was two points lower at 5,530 points, with 8,005 contracts traded.

* National Turnover was 589 million shares at a value of $2.5 billion.