The Australian share market has finished flat as weakness among mining stocks dampened earlier gains.
The local bourse had a strong start after markets in Europe and the United States rallied overnight.
But local investors appeared to be unimpressed by the brief return to confidence in Europe and the US, and instead focused on the vulnerabilities of local iron ore stocks, CMC Markets analyst Ric Spooner said.
“We’ve seen a bit of ongoing pressure in the iron ore sector and resource stocks generally,” Mr Spooner said.
“In the last couple of days, people are positioning a little bit for lacklustre or moderate growth in China.”
He said some local investors believed the rallies in Europe and the US were specific to those economies.
“One of the features of this year might be that we might be dragged down by the relative underperformance of emerging markets,” he said.
Investors were also waiting for the release of a raft of overseas data later in the week.
Among the major resources houses global miner BHP Billiton was down 17 cents to $37.04, Rio Tinto had retreated 65 cents to $65.35, and iron ore producer Fortescue Metals had fallen five cents to $5.39.
The big four banks were also mainly lower, with Westpac down 17 cents to $32.04, ANZ was 15 cents off at $31.71, and National Australia Bank was 10 cents weaker at $34.40. But Commonwealth Bank rose 16 cents to $77.88.
KEY FACTS
* At 1615 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down one point, or 0.02 per cent, at 5,316.0.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 0.1 point, at 5,318.7.
* The March share price index futures contract was down 11 points at 5,284, with 15,447 contracts traded.
* The price of gold in Sydney was $US1226.80 per fine ounce, down $US15.74 on Tuesday’s closing price of $US1242.54.
* National turnover was two billion securities worth $3.4 billion.
